


misnomer

by SolitarySnowflake



Category: Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 00:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21235343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolitarySnowflake/pseuds/SolitarySnowflake
Summary: A DnD urban fantasy with way too many characters





	1. misnomer (n.)

_ misnomer _

_ /misˈnōmər/ _

_ noun _

  * _a misapplied or inappropriate name or designation._
  * _an error in naming a person or thing._

The city air hung heavy and sharp, burning Ash’s throat as he breathed in.

_ This would all be so much easier if I could just be happy living on some farm in the middle of nowhere, _ Ash thought wistfully. _ Maybe… Iowa. Iowa is basically empty land and potatoes, right? Or was that Idaho? _He wouldn’t know. Ever since he’d left Gaia he’d bounced from city to city, disquieted by the lull of suburban neighborhoods and rural towns. 

All the better, really. Aside from the slow deterioration of his health and probably lifespan (did he have a lifespan? Hell if he knew), he got paid pretty well when he found the right group.

He supposed it was a matter of finding the right group again, this time around.

The blue sky softened into lavender as Ash strolled down the sidewalk, scanning street signs and buildings. His rule of thumb was that first days were reserved for scoping out the area- he didn’t want to jump headfirst into the criminal underground and not be able to even find his way around. At this point, he was pretty sure he’d almost exhausted every shady backstreet in the area.

So while it wasn’t a surprise when he ducked into a dead end alleyway, the figure huddled against the wall in the far corner was.

With their hood up and knees pulled to their chest, Ash thought they were a homeless man at first, but they were too small- at least, for a human. When their head whipped up at the sound of his approaching footsteps, he quickly realized that they were 1) not a man and 2) not human.

No, the figure was a bugbear child, face still half shrouded in shadow and eyes wide in panic. They jumped up, back pressing against the wall, spluttering the beginnings of an incomprehensible sentence. Ash put his hands up placatingly, taking a step back of his own. “Whoa, whoa. Calm down.” Despite the fact that the bugbear was probably half his height (an accomplishment, really) he couldn’t help but put his guard up. Looks could be deceiving.

“W-who are you?” the bugbear finally managed to stammer. They lifted their head slightly to meet his gaze, and oh. Oh, shit.

Ash couldn’t help but cringe. A cut ran from her head over her eye to her chin. And the burns… he curled his hands into fists to keep them from shaking. They stretched beneath their collar, and he forced himself to keep his mind in the present.

“I should be asking you that question,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “What’s your name?”

“G-Gretru,” the bugbear squeaked, and Ash immediately relaxed. 

A name could tell him a lot about a person. For one, he recognized Gretru as a female bugbear name. For another, she wasn’t lying- that was quite literally her entire name. He could get used to a lot of things, but the notion that people could just _ not _ have even a middle name, let alone a last name, was still weird as hell to him.

“Alright, Gretru,” he said slowly, taking a step forward. “Call me Ash. Why don’t you sit down and let me take a look at your wounds.”

Gretru slid down so compliantly that Ash had to take a moment to figure out if he’d accidentally used his magic on her, something that hadn’t ever happened before, but hey- there was a first time for everything. 

Then he realized she was probably just scared of him, which… well, he supposed he could see it as flattering, but it really wasn’t going to help either of them in this situation.

As he approached Gretru and knelt down, he did gently nudge her with his magic, calming her. Even so, he didn’t miss her flinch as he pulled off his gloves and reached over to trace her cut, fingers ghosting over her skin. His hands hovered over the burns hesitantly. Somewhat ironically (considering they were almost all he treated in his childhood), he’d never quite mastered healing them. Nevertheless, he did his best to reverse the damage with mixed success.

“Best I can do,” Ash muttered. Ignoring the voice in his head scolding _ that’s a biohazard, _ he wiped her blood on his shirt. If this preschool-age kid ended up carrying magical hepatitis or something, he’d be genuinely impressed and just take the hit.

“Th-thank you,” Gretru mumbled, shifting away. Ash gave a silent nod, slipping his gloves back on.

He had things to be doing. Criminals to sell his life to. He should really just get up and walk away about now.

“Have you eaten yet?” he found himself asking.

So much for that.

And that was the story of how Ash ended up sitting quietly inside a McDonald’s at 8 PM with a nine year old nervously perched next to him.

He could tell the cashier was silently judging them. Ash covertly flipped him off and he quickly averted his gaze.

“U-um…” Surprisingly, it was Gretru who broke the silence. “If… if you don’t mind me asking, why are you helping me?”

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Why were you sitting in an alley with day old wounds?”

Gretru stared down at the table. "I-" she started, before stopping. Ash waited resolutely. “My... my friend went missing two weeks ago.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with the topic at hand.”

Gretru bit her lip. “Have you heard of Dragon’s Crown?”

"The guild?" Ash cocked his head. "A couple times, but I'm new around here. Enlighten me."

"My friend's name is H." _ Probably not, _Ash thought immediately, but didn't interject. "He helped kids like me. One day, he- he tried to steal from Dragon's Crown." She sniffed, eyes watering. "He wanted to give us the money, but they got him. I- I didn't know at first. I went to Dragon's Crown asking for help, but they told me they were keeping him hostage before they attacked me. I'm a bugbear, so they…" Her voice trailed off and she looked away.

Ash fought the urge to do the same. “I see.” He made a mental note to stay away from Dragon’s Crown. “Is there no one you know that can help you?”

As Gretru began to shake her head, the cashier called their number in a monotonous voice. Ash stood. “I’ll get it.” 

As he retrieved the tray of food, a female Tiefling pushed open the glass doors, standing still for a moment and giving him an odd look. Ash could pinpoint the exact moment she decided to follow him back to the table instead of standing in the otherwise empty line. He let her, waiting until he’d set the tray down before turning toward her and frowning. “Who are you?”

The Tiefling glanced between he and Gretru and narrowed her eyes. Ash stared back steadily, suddenly realizing how bad this looked- Gretru’s burns were still very much visible, and there was no other adult nearby. Despite this revelation, it was impossible to guess what she was thinking beyond her suspicious glare.

After a short standoff, she finally answered.

“Did you kidnap her?”

Gretru squeaked and Ash raised his hands, palms down. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” _ She thinks I _ kidnapped _ her? _“Buddy, we’re just two homeless kids hanging out in the McDonald’s. How old do you think I am?”

The Tiefling tilted her head, studying him closely. “Maybe sixteen?” she guessed.

The sad part? Ash was fairly certain she wasn’t joking.

“Okay, I walked into that one,” he conceded. “I’m nineteen. And I’m not kidnapping her. Gimme a break.” He slid in next to Gretru. To his chagrin, the Tiefling merely took a seat right across from them.

“How can I be sure you’re not lying?” she pressed. 

“I like, physically can’t lie.” Actually, at this point, Ash was fairly certain that wasn’t true either. He’d found so many loopholes and violated it so many times that the so called built-in “law” was obsolete. “Mind your own business, Tiefling.”

Clearly, this wasn’t the right thing to say. The Tiefling’s expression didn’t change visibly, but Ash caught the barest tense in her shoulders. “Forgive me for being suspicious,” she said coolly. “Bugbears aren’t exactly treated the best anywhere. No one would notice or care if a bugbear child went missing and got sold off in, say, a trafficking ring. He’s not hurting you, is he?” Her flat yellow eyes turned suddenly on Gretru.”

“Er-! N-no, ma’am,” Gretru stammered out, eyes wide.

Still not seeming entirely unconvinced, she frowned. “Mind if I sit here for a while?”

The thing was, she kind of had a point. Ash couldn’t blame her for thinking what she did. “I mean, go ahead,” he shrugged. “But you’re gonna have to order, bud. Do you plan on just sitting here watching us eat all night?”

The Tiefling’s serious expression faltered. She stood sheepishly. “Uh, right.”

Exasperated, Ash grabbed the drink he’d ordered for himself and nudged the Happy Meal to Gretru. “I guess she’s just looking out for you,” he said begrudgingly, sticking the straw in.

“Sorry…” Gretru pulled the bag closer to her, gaze averted. “I can just leave now. Thanks for all your help, mister.”

“Wh- hey, no way in hell.” Too late, Gretru was standing. “Kid- hey kid, get back here. No- _ Gretru I swear to god sit back down and finish your fucking Happy Meal.” _

A bit of an underhanded tactic, maybe, but it worked. Gretru stopped, turned, and sat back down, brow furrowed in confusion. 

_ “Thank _you.” Luckily, he was saved from having to answer any unwanted questions by the reappearance of the Tiefling, already holding a drink and a large serving of french fries.

“So,” she said immediately as she slid back down across from them. “Tell me your story. Why _ are _two homeless kids hanging out in McDonald’s?”

Ash snapped his fingers. “Not so fast. Names first.”

“I’m Anakis Incubore.” After a moment of hesitation, she held out her hand and added begrudgingly, “pleasure to meet you.”

“Call me Ash.” Ash reached over and shook her hand.

“And, um, I’m Gretru…” Gretru piped up in a small voice. “It’s really not what it looks like, ma’am. Here’s what happened…”


	2. bugbear (n.)

_ bugbear _

_ /ˈbəɡˌber/ _

_ noun _

  * __a cause of obsessive fear, irritation, or loathing.__

“I see…” Anakis rested her chin upon her laced fingers pensively. “We really got off on the wrong foot, didn’t we?”

“No harm done.” Ash took a long sip from his drink. It tasted vaguely metallic. He was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to. “It’s not like I didn’t look suspicious.”

“Maybe we should turn this over to law enforcement,” Anakis suggested. “They should be told about how corrupt Dragon’s Crown is.”

“Um… but wouldn’t they arrest H…?” Gretru piped up timidly. “I-I know he was trying to steal, but he only wanted to help us...”

“Better to be held in jail legally than in the guild’s lair where they can do anything to him, right?” Anakis pointed out. 

“Getting law enforcement involved would be like putting their fates to a coin flip,” Ash said. “The people up there could very well be corrupt too. But it might be our only option.” Truth be told, he wasn’t particularly eager to get law enforcement involved either. Considering the jobs he took were almost always shady, the less interaction he had with them, the better.

Gretru opened her mouth to speak when suddenly the doors slammed open with a burst of noise, making all three of them jump. Annoyed, Ash took another sip and gave the obviously drunk group of newcomers a long, judgmental stare. “Everyone who comes through that door is a total weirdo,” he muttered. He didn’t quite catch the exasperated look Anakis gave him or Gretru’s small half-smile.

A second, blue-haired cashier had shown up to help the first deal with the sudden crowd. One of the people, a snake man, loosely waved a dwarf off to go find a seat. As the dwarf nodded heavily and started lumbering in the direction of the tables, a small gasp escaped Gretru’s lips and she quickly flipped up her hood, looking down. “That’s them,” she hissed. 

“What?” Anakis and Ash said at the same time. Gretru sunk back further in her chair and didn’t reply, but it was too late. The dwarf had seen the three of them and had changed course to stumble toward them.

“Heyyy,” the dwarf slurred. “It’s the bugbear! Looks like she found another criminal friend to consort with.” He sneered up at Anakis. Considering Ash had probably dabbled in illegal activities the most out of the three, he couldn’t help but feel mildly offended at being slighted. Like, hello? Who was the one with the eyepatch and giant black coat, here?

“The only criminal here is you.” Anakis’s voice was icy. “You’re acting pretty immature for someone from a guild that’s said to help and protect people.”

Ignoring them, the dwarf turned and called, words melting together, “Heyyy! Come see this, guys!”

The other guild members turned. Ash stood. “We should get out of here. Come on, Gretru.” 

“I agree.” Ash had to respect how Anakis stood with him despite the anger burning in her eyes. 

“Not so fast.” A large man who might have had giant ancestry slammed a fist down on the table. Ash could feel the tremble through the ground. “Mmm…” The man leaned down so that he was eye level with Gretru. “You’re the squirt whose friend tried to steal from us, eh?”

“Buddy, I have an absolutely  _ stellar  _ suggestion for you.” Ash shifted to block Gretru as well as he could from the giant’s view. “Why don’t you-” he pointed at him. “And all the rest of your friends-” He jabbed his finger toward the guild members that had amassed behind the first two. “Stop acting like drunk animals and get out of our faces?” He pointed behind them. “Door’s that way.”

“I know where the door is,” the giant sneered.

“Perfect. Then why don’t you use it?”

For a drunken giant, his reflexes were pretty quick. 

Instinct took over as Ash ducked the fist swinging at his head. His heart hammered in his chest. He heard Anakis call out, but didn’t quite catch what she said as the fist slammed into the wall. 

“-public assault,” Anakis was yelling at the giant when the world tuned back in. “You can face jail time for this.”

“He started it,” the giant grunted, withdrawing his fist. “The bugbear next.”

“Over my dead body.” All of a sudden, a can of pepper spray was pointed at the giant. “I’d suggest you rethink where you put your hands. The solvent for this brand of pepper spray is highly flammable, and…” Anakis lifted a pinkie finger off the can. A flame burst to life on its tip. “Well, I don’t think I need to explain myself any further.”

Ash cringed internally and shifted his focus to the guild members. Many were giving each other uneasy looks, with a frown tugging at even the giant’s mouth. And drawing near the commotion from the left...

“Pardon me!”

Half a dozen heads turned to face the blue-haired cashier that had approached the scene almost unnoticed. He gave the group a bright smile. “I’m terribly sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you all to leave the facility.”

“Excuse me?” Another guild member, the snake man, glared at the cashier. “On what grounds?”

“Harassment,” the cashier replied pleasantly. “Threats. Assault. Do you think my co-worker and I didn’t see what happened?”

The snake man slithered closer to him, thrusting his face in his. “Do you know we are?” he growled. 

“Nope,” the cashier chirped.

All hell broke loose.

The snake man lunged for the cashier, who grabbed his wrist and twisted it. Seeming to take this as an opening, the giant wound back, facing Anakis this time. Before he could throw the punch, Anakis pressed down on the top of the can, hitting him straight in the face with a blast of pepper spray. Ash’s eye watered from the proximity. “Time to go!” he announced, grabbing Gretru’s arm. A Tabaxi jumped at them. Ash threw his drink in her face and bolted with Gretru in tow.

All entrances and exits were blocked by guild members. Ash jumped the counter with Gretru scrambling behind him, the two of them landing with heavy thuds on the ground and pressing their backs to the inside of the counter.

They weren’t alone. The first cashier, huddled up three feet away from them, gave them a dirty look. “You’re gonna lead them right to us.”

For the second time that night, Ash flipped him off. A crash and a rising cheer sounded from the commotion, bringing their focus back to the actual issue. 

Fuck his pretentious coin flip metaphor. “Did you call the police?” he asked, eyes flicking down to the cashier’s name tag.  _ Evolet Ta.  _

“Of course I called the police,” Evolet scoffed. “We’ve got people with  _ knives _ in here. Switchblades.”

“They have  _ knives?” _

“I’m so sorry.” Gretru covered her face with her paws. “This is all my fault. I never should have dragged you into this, mister.”

“Kid...” Ash bit back a sigh. “I literally dragged you here and forced food down your throat. My only regret is losing my milkshake.” Here he did sigh forlornly. “She totally didn’t deserve having that thrown in her face.”

He took a second to mourn the $2.59 lost. Maybe he’d get himself another afterward.

“Will your friend be able to handle herself?” Evolet’s voice broke through his thoughts. Ash contemplated his question for a moment, shifting restlessly.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. She’d seemed pretty confident facing them off, but what if it was a bluff? What if that crashing noise had been someone knocking her out? Ash fervently wished he could return to the scene and help, but he knew he’d only get in the way- especially if any of them had knives. “What about yours?”

“Abril?” Evolet said. “I haven’t known him for very long. We’re both new, but he said he knows how to fight.”

That was a relief. What wasn’t, however, was the ongoing array of noises and the smell of melting plastic. No matter how competent, they were still only two people up against at least half a dozen trained guild members. 

There- added to the chaos, a new sound. The not-so-distant whine of sirens drew closer and closer. Ash never thought there’d be a day where he’d actually be happy to hear it, but there was a first time for everything. As soon as it began drifting through the building, the yelling began to quiet down and the McDonald’s rapidly plunged into silence.

“Well!” Abril’s unmistakable voice cut through the stillness. “We did give you the chance to back down!”

A rush of cool air blew in as the door opened once again. Ash peeked over the counter to see a young, uniformed woman who, while tall, paled in comparison in terms of height to the eight foot lizardwoman walking next to her. 

“Everyone stand down,” the lizardwoman announced, voice booming through the room. “All members of Dragon’s Crown Guild, you are under arrest until further notice.”


	3. esquivalience (n.)

_ esquivalience  _

_ /esˈkwivālēəns/ _

_ noun _

  * __the willful avoidance of one's official responsibilities*__

Ash waited patiently as Officer Lhudrenari scanned his written statement.

“Er…” The young woman looked up sheepishly. “I’m going to need your real name, if possible.” She pointed to the top of the statement. “Something tells me your last name isn’t Ketchum.”  
Somehow, Ash managed to keep a straight face. “You can’t disprove it.” Perks of being legally off the grid- there was no way people could prove you even existed.

Of course, that made finding legitimate jobs and getting housing a lot harder. Nothing’s perfect.

“Well, you can’t disprove that we can’t disprove it either,” the officer said, bemused. “Unless you had some other information that made you more certain of this or if you’re not even real or… anyway, it would make our job a lot easier if we knew who you were. Or, uh…” She glanced down at the paper again. “If we had any of your contact information at all?”

“No can do. My phone got wrecked last week and I don’t have a permanent address. Sorry,” he added with an apologetic shrug. He wasn’t trying to inconvenience the police on purpose, but he also had no plans to let them contact them after this. What more was there to say? They’d been assaulted by a group of drunk guildsmen out of nowhere in the middle of the night.

Yup. That was all there was to the story.

“Nothing to be done about that, then,” Lhudrenari said briskly. “Nothing worth it, anyway. Thanks for your help, Mr. Ketchum.” She gave him a cheeky grin and quick bow. “Can I ask you to stay put with the other witnesses for a moment? I need to talk to my partner.”

“No problem.” The two parted ways, with Ash stuffing his hands in his pockets as he shuffled back to where Anakis, Gretru, Abril, and Evolet were sitting.

“That went well,” Anakis commented. Ash couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not at first, but she looked genuinely relieved. “One of the smoothest interactions I’ve ever had with police. They seem a bit young, though.”

“Are you talking about the redhead, or both of them?”

“Both,” Anakis clarified. “Officer Teine sounded younger than I thought she would. I assume lizardfolk just grow differently from most.”

Ash nodded in agreement. Considering lizardfolk weren’t usually seen in such urban areas, he’d never bothered to read up on them. He cast his gaze over to the officers in question. The two were conversing with each other in hushed tones.

"I do hope this won't affect work the next few days," Abril thought out loud. "Does this sort of thing happen often in these establishments?"

" _ Please fire me _ ," Evolet muttered fervently.

"Are you okay?" Anakis asked Gretru. The young bugbear had been sitting silently, which Ash had learned was not generally too unusual for her (which was Not A Good Thing considering what she must have gone through to get to that point).

"I'm fine, ma'am," Gretru mumbled. "I'm… just worried."

Anakis furrowed her brow. "About this situation? Or your friend?"

"B-both…" Gretru admitted. "I-I came to Dragon's Crown alone looking for someone that had stolen from them. They didn't really… see me as a person because I'm a bugbear. That's why they attacked me. But I'm used to that." Ash flinched subtly. "I didn't expect them to start trouble in public like this. It… it almost makes me think the rumors are true…"

"Rumors?" Ash pressed.

Gretru nodded. "There are rumors of an underground fighting ring run primarily by guilds. Some say Dragon's Crown sent participants, but I didn't really believe it…"

"An underground fighting ring?" Abril jumped in. Ash had almost forgot the other two were listening. "That seems awfully sketchy!" 

"Guilds running illegal fighting rings? Sketchy? I haven't the slightest clue what you mean," Ash drawled, stretching his hands out in front of him.  _ Interesting _ . "So do the guilds just duke it out with each other? That doesn't seem serious enough for it to be underground."

"N-not just each other," Gretru corrected. "They, um, also send- representatives? Like exotic creatures and… prisoners. From missions."

"You're not implying…" Anakis's voice trailed off.

"Can someone-" Ev interrupted, palms down on the table, " _ explain _ what's going on? I'm hearing bits and pieces but I still have no idea  _ why _ my workplace- which I just barely get paid minimum wage at, by the way- was the ideal place for this great 'Dragon's Crown' to take out their repressed aggression."

Gretru opened her mouth- probably to apologize- before apparently thinking better of it and taking a moment to collect herself. "I- I don't want to involve any more people than I already have."

"Yeah no, I just want an explanation." Evolet groaned and rubbed his temples. "God, the manager is gonna be  _ pissed _ at us. He might take the damage costs out of our next paycheck."

"The insurance will probably cover the property damages!" Abril said helpfully.

"Yeah, and insurance is just  _ so  _ reliable."

"For one, they were drunk," Anakis said. "That was probably the main contributor to… whatever just happened."

"But not the only one," Evolet prompted. 

"N-no, sir…" Gretru briefly explained the situation. 

When she was done, the entire table was quiet for a good minute. It seemed no one was entirely sure how to proceed from there- including Ash, who in the silence, noticed something he hadn't before.

"You know, the officers have been awfully quiet."

Five heads turned toward Officers Lhudrenari and Teine. To their credit, they were still turned toward each other with backs to them and didn't  _ look _ like they were eavesdropping, but Ash didn't recall hearing them throughout their conversation, either. At some point, they'd just stopped talking. 

He wasn't sure what to expect when they exchanged a few quick words again before making their way back over to the witnesses, but apparently the answer was 'smile and pretend nothing happened'. "Thanks so much for your time," the redhaired officer said brightly. "You're free to go now. We'll take care of Dragon's Crown to the best of our ability."

Ash squinted. "Not sure I trust that wording, there."

"Will they face appropriate consequences?" Anakis added.

Both officers glanced at each other and back at them. "I will be honest with you," Valeria Teine said. "We are trainees without much power in our precinct. Technically, we shouldn't even be here without a senior officer, but we happened to be patrolling nearby and there was some miscommunication so we were called to the scene. Had it been up to the two of us, I would assure you Dragon's Crown will face appropriate legal consequences. As it stands, given their influence, it is… unfortunately unlikely this will be the case."

"We'll try our best," Officer Lhudrenari promised. "But I don't think we can do much. I'm sorry." She sounded genuinely apologetic, which kept putting Ash off. Decked out in red, long unpronounceable name- in Gaia, that was a big red flag. He always avoided people like them. Interestingly, wherever she came from, this didn’t seem to be a problem at all. 

“Speaking of which,” Valeria said, “we should really get going, Red.” They exchanged a meaningful look. 

“Right!” ‘Red’ gave them all a brisk salute and a grin. “Thanks for your time again! See you around, or not- hopefully under better circumstances if we do.”

“Likewise.” Without thinking, Ash returned the salute with two fingers. “See you around, officers.”

“Thanks for all your help!” Abril waved enthusiastically as the officers left the scene, once again bent toward each other and murmuring quietly.

“So…” Abril was the one to break the silence. “You think Dragon’s Crown is going to send your friend to fight, don’t you? Given what you’ve told us, it seems highly likely!” Gretru groaned quietly and sunk back at this. “Do you know where the fighting ring is?”

“No,” Gretru sighed. “I’ve… I’ve only ever heard rumors.”

“Well in that case, I know the perfect place to go!” Abril held up a finger. “Have you heard of information bureaus? Damarel’s is supposed to be particularly big. It’s why I’m here, after all.”

“‘Why you’re here’?” Anakis repeated.

Abril hummed in affirment. “There’s said to be a particular informant arriving…” He tilted his head, horn glowing faintly for just a moment, “oh, in a day or two, with information I need. I’ve been waiting for a good few weeks for them! I’m willing to take you guys to them…” He lifted the finger a little higher. “For a small price.”

Ah, what the hell. Ash had already gotten himself involved- he may as well follow through. Surprisingly, though, Anakis beat him to the punch. She leaned forward, fingers tapping against the table and yellow eyes glinting as she asked the question on his mind.

“What price?”

_ a fictitious word created to protect the copyright of the New Oxford American Dictionary. Esquivalience is not an officially recognized word in the English language.* _


	4. scopaesthesia (n.)

_ scopaesthesia _

_ /skōpāsˈTHēZH(ē)ə/ _

_ noun _

  * __The extrasensory phenomenon of feeling someone or something staring at you__

_ “You know,” she said as she led him down the ill-maintained fire road, “us fae have a saying in Sylvan.” _

_ “A saying?” Ash echoed quietly, keeping his eyes fixed on the horizon. The fae hummed, giving him a backward glance. The cuckoo bird on her shoulder shuffled its feathers and did the same. _

_ “You probably wouldn’t hear it outside the Starstone Court,” she said. “ _ ‘Nae sankt ei noi fae proekt hem zoi.’  _ ‘There’s no place in the world for a fae with a bleeding heart.’ Do you understand?” _

_ An outsider might not fully grasp the idiom, no matter how straightforward it sounded. Ash knew better. “I think so,” he said. “There’s a saying in Common that’s similar. Um, ‘no such thing as a free lunch’...?” _

_ Someone with a bleeding heart was one that cared for others. Someone who gave more than they received, physically and emotionally.  _

_ The fae were not like that. Fae in particular believed in balance- equal give and take, equivalent exchange. With that in mind, the saying essentially meant that there was no person who would give out of kindness alone. They would take their due, because nothing came for free. _

_ “That sounds right,” she agreed. “I’ve heard Gaians say similar things, though they seem to be directed specifically to fae. This one’s more general- like how ‘cutting corners’ doesn’t actually mean cutting corners, most the time.” _

_ Ash noticed this about the fae- she always clarified, always covered her bases.  _ ‘Most the time’.  _ Just as how people had to be careful about what they said to fae, it seemed they had to be careful in kind. “Is there a point to this?” he asked. “We already made our deal.” _

_ “We have,” the fae agreed with a short laugh, “and the deal is the deal.” She stopped to turn toward Ash. “A word of advice, child. Don’t let yourself bleed.” She took a step closer and Ash resisted the urge to take a step back. “Because when you start to bleed, you may well bleed yourself dry. And what have you accomplished then?” The fae reached out and he flinched back, but she merely brushed a lock of hair out of his purple eye with a wry, knowing smile.  _

_ When Ash was silent, she turned and started walking again. “We’re almost at the nearest town. I’ll leave you to your own then.” _

_ “Your assistance will be remembered,” he said diplomatically.  _

_ “I’m sure it will.” Though Ash couldn’t see her face, her cuckoo bird let out a delighted trill. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, Ashwin. One way or another, we’ll meet again. Try not to bleed yourself dry before then.” _

~*~

Would she be disappointed if she saw him now?

Not that he cared much about her opinion. He didn’t think she’d care enough to be disappointed, either. But the conversation had been on his mind lately- even before he’d met Gretru. After all, the reason why he was here in the first place was because he’d been kicked out of the former gang he’d been working for. And the reason for  _ that _ was because he’d been given a job too inhumane to carry through.

The same reason he’d been kicked out of the last gang. And the one before that.

He’d like to find a better job, of course. But when he’d first left Gaia, a nervous thirteen year old boy fresh out of the trauma mill with a strange accent no one would believe was in any way local, he had no options. Even jobs that would be more than happy to exploit him involved equipment he couldn’t handle. 

So he’d sold himself off to fighting rings and criminals and things would escalate to a point where he had to leave. At some point, he’d given up on being an upstanding citizen. Ash hadn’t made it to hell and back to be stopped by laws that didn’t care about him.

He wouldn’t let them stop Gretru, either.

“Here we are!” Abril turned toward the group with a bright grin, sweeping his arm toward the building before them. 

It was tall and ornate, with security guards that made Ash squirm under their gaze. About the kind of place you’d expect to be labeled (in large gold cursive, no less) an information bureau. Ash didn’t know how they’d find information on an illegal fighting ring in a place like this, but he’d have to trust Abril’s merit. 

Evolet in particular looked doubtful, but maybe that was because his expressions tended to lean toward unpleasant in general. “This looks like the kind of place rich people buy stocks at.” Ash wasn’t even sure why he’d tagged along in the first place- though he was technically piggybacking off of Anakis and Ash’s money, Evolet himself had implied he didn’t want anything to do with Gretru’s situation. Maybe he, like Abril, had something personal he wanted to know.

“Ah ah ah-!” Abril wagged a finger in his face. Evolet leaned back slightly. “Have a little patience, Ev! Follow me, everyone!” 

Ash felt like his very presence was dirtying the polished floor, and from the judgemental look she was giving the group, the receptionist likely felt the same. However, when Abril said something he didn’t catch and slid a small pouch of coins to her with a smile, her entire demeanor changed. With a polite nod and a smile of her own, she turned, gesturing to them, and walked through the wall.

Ash really needed to get over his thing with his eye. 

Sliding his eyepatch to a side in case he missed something else, he approached the wall and stepped through it himself. Abril was already in, and it wasn’t long before Gretru appeared at his side, surveying the scene with wide eyes.

It looked like a bar-  _ was _ a bar- carrying a stink of alcohol that hadn’t been present just a moment before. “Those are the informants!” Abril informed, sweeping his arm to the bar’s many and motley patrons. “Everyone here knows something, if you’re willing to pay the price. I hope you’re all good at bartering!”

Ash thought of the fae again and stifled a humorless laugh. 

This was fine. He was in his element- in fact, he’d been employed on multiple missions to gather information from bars and high school parties. He just had to find the right target.

“I suppose we should split up?” Anakis suggested. Ash jumped slightly; he’d almost forgotten the Tiefling’s presence.

There was no reason to spend more money if it wasn’t needed, but he also wasn’t too comfortable having Anakis watch him work. From what he’d seen, she seemed like the nosy type, and he didn’t want to have to answer any of her questions. “Yeah,” he said at length. “Hold off on asking about the fighting ring for now. It’d be pretty stupid if we paid double for the same information.”

“Well, then shouldn’t we stick tog-”

“Stay with her, Gretru.” Giving the bugbear a quick, apologetic look and determinedly not meeting Anakis’s eyes, Ash slipped into the fray.

No one paid him any mind as his eyes scoured the bar. It wasn’t long before he found a potential informant- maybe he was stereotyping a little, but the species of tall, pale elf sitting to a wall tended to be old and cocky. Ash squared his shoulders as he approached her.  _ Just sound confident. That’s not exactly hard for you. _

“Hey, you. What’s your name?”

The elf looked up from her game of solitaire, raising a pierced eyebrow. Ash’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the other piercings in her long ears, with ornate earrings decorating their length, and her assortment of rings along the long slender fingers now gathering and shuffling the cards. “What’s it to you?” she scoffed, peering down at him.

“Information,” Ash pointed out with a shrug. “And money to you. What else can it be?”

The elf rolled her eyes and performed a perfect dovetail shuffle without sparing a single glance at the cards. “Touché,” she said. “Zorelia Ai. You’re gonna have to start paying up if you want to know more than that.”

Hook and sinker. Here came the tricky part. “Me?” Ash drawled, folding his arms on top of the counter. “Who are you to tell me what to do? Aren’t I supposed to be the one making demands, Miss Ai?”

A brief look of confusion crossed Zorelia’s face and she finally looked back down at her cards, a frown tugging at her lips. “After you pay, maybe.” Ash knew he had her at the change of tone- from scornful to uncertain.

Completely brushing off the comment and pushing a bit harder, Ash continued,”I need to know about the illegal fighting ring for guilds. If you’ve got anything to say about it, just say it. You want to go back to playing your cards, don’t you? So don’t let me waste your time.”

“Of course.” The scornful tone was back. “Eh, you’re after the fighting ring, huh? I’m not surprised. More and more people seem to want to know about it with the rumors of the upcoming Millennial Matches.” Ash had never heard anything about such a thing, but he didn’t comment. “Hosted by a visiting guild all the way from Fyleath, offers of up to a million dollars for the final winner… it’s not a surprise everyone is interested.”

“Where could I find the fighting ring?” Ash pressed. “What else can you tell me about these matches?”

“The old warehouse out on the edge of the city, obviously. As for the matches… well, you need to be registered in a guild, for one. The paperwork’s easy to forge for that. What you definitely can’t skimp out on is the representative- or representatives- each guild needs to send. The Millennial Matches are a standard round robin tournament with prize money going up for each round you win. That’s just the general information everyone knows, though.” Her eyes flicked suspiciously from side to side. “You won’t hear from just anyone about what Dragon’s Crown is up to.”

Ash’s breath caught in his throat. “Dragon’s Crown?” he echoed. 

“They’ve been doing experiments,” she said in a low voice. “Transferring magic into people it’s not meant to be transferred into. There’s talk of them sending an experimentally enhanced representative to fight in the matches.” She straightened. “Aside from that, I don’t know much. These are just rumors.”

“Right.” Ash hesitated. Did he want to push his chances? “One more thing. Do you know anything about a village called Gaia?”

“Gaia? That little place in the forest that got closed off because campers and tourists kept disappearing in it? A bit.”

“Do you… know if there’s anything happening there, as of the last few years?”

Zorelia studied Ash closely. He gazed back coolly, determined not to let his posture falter. Suddenly, her face split into an eerily wide grin, and she let out a slow, hoarse laugh. “Of course,” she rasped, craning her neck to look down at him. Ash had a feeling she wasn’t answering his question.

He opened his mouth to say something- to tell her to forget about it, to forget about him- but she suddenly raised her hand, reaching for him, and he completely blanked.

Cold metal rings burned against his face as she rested her hand on his cheek. Ash couldn’t move. He couldn’t think. Any words he might have said were locked up behind his tongue.

“You’re a long way from home, aren’t you?”

The hand shifted down. He felt the metal rings on his neck near the scar. The chatter in the background evened out into white noise, static. Until, until, until-

“Ash?”

Ash slapped Zorelia’s hand away. “Don’t touch me,” he snapped. “Don’t touch me, don’t look at me, don’t- go back to playing your cards. Forget this conversation.” He was drawing attention. People were looking at him. He wanted them to stop looking. He wanted them to forget. He wanted everyone to forget his name, every little change he’d made to the infinitely larger world, every domino his very existence toppled over. He wanted to be a ghost to the universe, a fly on the wall,  _ anything if people would stop looking at him- _

“Ash!” A hand landed on his shoulder and he jerked away. The hand quickly fell off, and he found himself focusing into Abril’s bewildered scarlet eyes.

“Um.”  _ This is embarrassing.  _ He shouldn’t have tried to get his personal life involved. It was best to leave all traces of the past behind him before they were forced upon him again.

“Are you okay?” Abril tilted his head. “It seemed like one of the informants wasn’t being very nice! You look a bit pale…”

Ash coughed awkwardly into a fist and looked away. “I’m a blonde white guy, Abril. We do tend to look like that. Anyway, did you find the information you were looking for?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say I found  _ the  _ information I was looking for, but it’s a step forward from usual!” He pressed the tips of his fingers together with a bright smile. “I’m on a good track! It shouldn’t be long before… oh, but did you get the information you needed? It didn’t look like you were doing much talking!”

“I was  _ before,”  _ Ash sniffed. “I think I got as much information as I could have. Do you know where the others are? I should probably let them know what I found.”  _ And apologize for ditching them. Not my best move. _

“I don’t,” Abril admitted. “I just finished my own conversations! I’m sure they’re around here somewhere, though. I bet they’re waiting. Let’s go!”

Ash let out a deep breath. “Yeah,” he said briskly, shaking off his last dregs of agitation. “Let’s.”


	5. phantonym (n.)

_ phantonym _

_ /ˈfan(t)ənim/ _

_ noun _

  * __ a word that appears to mean one thing, but in fact means another__

“They won’t let us in without a representative?”

The group sat outside the McDonald's, a crooked umbrella leaning over them. The midday sun shone at an angle that made the umbrella useless, but no one bothered to try to fix its position. 

“That’s the impression I got.” Ash dipped two fingers into the small container of paste and applied it to his cheek where Zorelia’s rings had made contact.  _ Definitely some kind of alloy, but probably mostly silver, thank the stars.  _ “Maybe we should take a different approach. It’s not like we’re actually doing this to win the matches. There’s bound to be some way we can get in.”

Anakis frowned. “I highly doubt it’ll be easy. Everyone’s going to be after the money, so the security will be high.”

"Gross." Ash plastered a large, square bandaid onto his cheek. Technically not needed, but it made him look more badass. Like he got into an actual fight. "Guess that's a dead end."

"Wait." Abril cut in. He had his elbows propped against the table and his chin resting on laced fingers. "What's the prize money again?"

"It goes up as you go up. The final winner gets a million dollars."

Abril hummed pleasantly, closing his eyes. "I could be your representative."

The group plunged into silence. 

"It's fine if you don't want me tagging along, of course!" Abril continued. "But it sounds like you'll need someone who can really fight. Ah, not to imply either of you can't- I don't know much about you, but I'm combat trained and I'm sure I can be useful!"

"No, you definitely will be!" Anakis blurted out. "It's just- do you really want to get involved?" 

"I'm doing this for myself, so you'll be helping me too!" Abril assured. "But is there a minimum number of people you'd need?"

Anakis pulled out her phone. "Hold up, I'll look it up." 

Ash started rubbing the paste onto his neck. "Are the marks visible?" He fretted. He hadn't gotten a chance to look in a mirror since they'd gotten out.

"They could reasonably look like hickeys," Evolet said bluntly.

Ash groaned melodramatically, tossing the back of his hand to his forehead. "This is it. My life is over."

"I have some makeup you can borrow!" Abril piped up.

"Oh, really? Thanks, you're a lifesaver."

"Five people." Anakis looked up from her phone. "There's no minimum age requirement, either, which I think is bull."

"Different species do age differently," Ash pointed out as Abril dug a small makeup kit out of his satchel. 

"Yes, but it's probably more with the intention to recruit really powerful five year olds."

"Touché. Five year olds can get pretty crazy."

"With us here, we'd register as four," Anakis said. "We could try to take a fifth identity, but it would be an awful lot of trouble…"

Everyone's heads swiveled toward Evolet.

"Absolutely not," said Evolet, leaning away slightly. 

"Aww, come on, Ev!" Abril passed over the kit. "It'll be fun! I'll share a fraction of the money if you come!"

"...That entirely depends on how much a 'fraction' is."

"Hmm… is ten percent enough?"

"At least twenty."

"Fifteen?"

"Eighteen. Take it or leave it."

"Eighteen it is," Abril chirped. "I don't know how much that'll be, but we'll find out!"

"That's one problem solved," Ash said, flipping open the compact mirror and trying to get a good angle at his neck. "It's a matter of forging the paperwork now, isn't it?"

"Wait," Gretru interrupted. She'd been quiet the whole time, but now finally put her paws down on the table. "I- I can't let you guys do this."

"Ah?" Ash paused with the concealer halfway to his neck. "What are you talking about? We've come this far."

Gretru shook her head. "It's too dangerous," she insisted. "I… I don't know why you're so set on helping me, but even though I want to save H, I don't want anyone else getting hurt, or getting into trouble because of me."

"Well, you said yourself that you want to save H, don't you?" Ash started applying the concealer a bit awkwardly, still trying to get the mirror at a better angle. "Gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelette, or however the saying goes."

"Ash is right. We've already come this far." Anakis put down her phone. "You don't need to look out for us, Gretru. We're adults, we can make our own decisions."

"Basically adults, anyway," Abril added helpfully.

"Of… of course, it's just…" She laced her fingers together. "Why are you helping me?" She gave Ash a sideways glance. "You never answered me when I asked the first time."

Ash stopped, staring flatly into the mirror. When it looked like Gretru was waiting for an actual answer, he sighed and put it down. "Hell, kid. Why do you think I wouldn't?" 

"Most people... don't care about me," said Gretru, looking away again. "T-they don't like me because I'm a bugbear, and even other bugbears don't like me because I'm- I'm different. I'm too quiet and peaceful and smarter than they are, so they reject me…" Her voice trailed off.

Ash was silent for a moment before he picked the mirror back up and started coloring over the marks again. "If you were older and stronger and had the capability, would you help someone like you if they were struggling?"

"Well, y-yes…"

"There you go. Next question." 

"The world is full of terrible people," said Anakis. "Or people that just don't care. And it's not always their fault. But there are people out there who aren't like that. I like to think I'm one of them."

Ash clicked his tongue in agreement, putting the concealer down. He thought it looked fine, but Abril was peering at it with a frown. "It's not blended very well," he told him. "I'm not sure if you could tell…"

"Damn, really?" Ash checked in the mirror. "I'm not really sure how to fix that. Haven't done this in a while."

"Come here, I'll help you."

"Th-thank you," Gretru murmured at length. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "All of you. I wish… I could tell you how much this means to me. But…" She was beginning to cry in earnest now, with Anakis putting a light hand on her back.

"'Course," Ash said briskly as Abril touched up the concealer. "We'll go in and get your friend out the best we can. Just gotta figure out the paperwork first."

As he spoke, Abril leaned back to admire his handiwork. "All good," he announced. "Do you want me to do the scar, too?"

"Ah, I've tried that before. It's too big to cover without it looking uneven."

"It's not if you know how to do it properly!"

"Huh, then why not."

Gretru straightened. "I- I think I know someone that can help!" she said. "I don't know for sure, but she's involved in the black market a lot more than I am."

"You do?" Anakis said in surprise.

"A bit. Her name is Shrieking Bird. I helped her get away once when she stole some food." Gretru rubbed the back of her neck. "We've run into each other a few times since then. I think I can find her if I tried."

"Shrieking Bird, huh?" Ash mused. "What is she?"

"Um, she's a Kenku," explained Gretru. "She gets hired by some people to pass messages and do calls… I think. It's a bit hard to speak to her."

"Let's try that, then," said Anakis. "I think everyone's a little worn out right now. Why don't we meet here this time tomorrow?"

"We're on the morning shift so we'll be around after!" Abril promised, finishing up his last touches.

"Why we?" Evolet protested.

"No objections here. I'll see you all around, then. Thanks, Abril." The Aefie nodded with a smile as he began to pack up the kit. "Got a place to stay the night, Gretru?"

"Er, no?"

"Perfect, neither do I. Let's go find the shittiest motel there is and totally trash it."


	6. discordant (adj.)

_ discordant _

_ /ˌdisˈkôrd(ə)nt/ _

_ adjective _

  * __disagreeing or incongruous__
  * _(of sounds) harsh and jarring because of a lack of harmony._

_ She reached for Ash and rested her hand on his cheek, gently. Ash stared at her blankly as she examined his face with clear blue eyes, eyes he'd see in his dreams for years to come. _

_ "It's not right," she whispered, moving her hand along his chin and to his other cheek, gently, gently. Tears filled those clear blue eyes, gazing at his face but not him. "It's not right," she said again, talking at him but not to him. _

_ Ash said nothing. _

_ The smell of burning flesh slowly filled the air. _

~*~

Gretru whistled for the fourth time that afternoon.

"Are you sure she's around here?" Evolet said, for the fourth time that afternoon.

"N-no..." Gretru admitted, fiddling with her paws.

"Have a little faith, Ev!" Abril was halfway skipping aside them, seeming nonplussed by how long they'd been walking around aimlessly. "It's only been two hours!"

_ "Only?"  _ Evolet repeated incredulously. "How long do you usually walk around in sketchy, unfamiliar areas?"

"I haven't stopped in years!"

As they chatted in the background, Gretru's whistle traveled through the half empty streets yet again. Anakis, who was peering around skeptically, finally spoke up. "Isn't it too soon to try that again?"

"That wasn't me," Gretru said.

Apparently both Abril and Evolet had still been listening, because they both went quiet as the group listened to the low humdrum of the city outskirts. "Are you sure it wasn't you?" Evolet said at last.

Gretru whistled again and counted under her breath. Five seconds later the whistle echoed back to her. "It's her!" Gretru brightened. "She's somewhere nearby!"

She spent the next few minutes Marco Polo-ing Shrieking Bird as the rest of them followed behind. It wasn't long before they made a sharp turn and faced down an empty, cracked sidewalk lined with ill-maintained houses. Almost immediately, a black blur streaked toward them at lightning speed. Gretru barely had time to help in surprise before a green cloaked Kenku crashed into her and wrapped her talons around her back.

"Gretru!" she cried, in an excited imitation of Gretru's own voice. Ash did a double take. While he was fully aware of the Kenku method of communication, he'd never seen it used in individual conversation before. Shrieking Bird pulled away and cocked her head at the bugbear, speaking in a mangle of voices, "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Gretru had a happy smile on her face. "I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?"

Shrieking Bird paused, thinking for a moment, before imitating a young male voice-  _ "I'm doing great! I'm doing faaantastic! I can go all day long!" _

"This is so weird," Ash muttered. No wonder Gretru had mentioned it was hard to speak to her. How would he speak if he could only mimic others and had little sense of creativity? How did her vocal cords work?

"That's good to hear!" Gretru seemed unfazed by Shrieking Bird's strange method of communication. Her expression, however, quickly changed as she seemed to remember the situation at hand. "But I need your help. Do you know anyone who can forge guild papers?"

As Shrieking Bird cocked her head in confusion, Gretru gave a brief rundown of their situation. By the time she was finishing up, Shrieking Bird was nodding vigorously. "Dove!" She exclaimed in a slightly raspy, female voice.

"Dove?" Gretru repeated, brow furrowed. 

Shrieking Bird nodded even harder. "One twenty three PM," she recited in a robotic voice, before switching back into the female voice again. " _ You're not the first to come and get guild paperwork done. But you need a minimum of five people to register. _ "

"What?" Ash exchanged a confused glance with Gretru. Apparently her ability to communicate with Shrieking Bird had failed her. "We do have five people," Ash pointed out.

"Five people," Shrieking Bird echoed back in his voice, seemingly in agreement. "Follow!" Without waiting to see if they would, she turned and started down the sidewalk.

"This seems like a bad idea," said Evolet. "Does anyone know what she was trying to say?"

"We  _ are _ dealing with the black market, here," Anakis pointed out. "Good ideas were thrown out the window a couple hours ago. Come on!" She was the first to go after Shrieking Bird, with the rest having no choice but to follow.

They made their way down the street before Shrieking Bird slowed in front of a seedy looking house and pointed to the front. Despite the fact it was clearly meant to be a personal living space, a peeling sign hanging above the door read 'Open'. She pointed at it enthusiastically, a stark contrast to the murder-mystery-to-be setting before her. "Open!"

"Alright," Anakis announced. "We're definitely all going to die, but we might as well try our hand at extreme illegal activities before then!" She didn't hesitate to walk up the path to the porch. 

Ash, on the other hand, valued his life a little more than that."Shrieking Bird, is there any other part of that conversation you'd like to share?"

He expected more cryptic snippets in the raspy female voice, but to his surprise, she responded in a higher, clearer voice. A very familiar voice, fresh in his mind from at most two days ago.

_ "Are you sure we can't just register with an existing guild? Making an entirely new guild seems even harder and easier to expose, logically." _

"Is that-" Ash exchanged looks with the two other boys, who were wearing similar but varying expressions of surprise. "Is that the red-haired officer from McDonald's? Please tell me I'm not going crazy."

"You're going crazy," Evolet deadpanned. "But that's not really exclusive to you among this group."

"Real helpful, buddy."

Abril, being the actually helpful one, spoke up. "It definitely sounded like her!"

"Great, I'm not hearing things then. One twenty three… wait. That's-" He pushed his coat sleeve up to check the time. "That's less than fifteen minutes ago. Anakis, wait-!"

Too late. Anakis was knocking briskly on the door. Ash held his breath, half hoping no one would respond, but fate was not on his side that afternoon. Or ever.

The door swung open and a striped, silver Tabaxi stood in the doorway, long tail flicking idly behind her. She wore an emerald shawl similar to Shrieking Bird and peered down at said Kenku passively with a single, pale green eye. "Are these your friends?" She spoke at length in that low, female voice.

"Friends," Shrieking Bird confirmed, setting a talon on Gretru's arm.

"I'm a little preoccupied right now," Dove admitted, glancing to Anakis, the closest to her. "But you can all come in and take a seat while I finish up with my current clients."

Before any of them could get a word in edgewise, a tall form appeared behind Dove, reptilian face barely visible below the doorway. "We are most certainly not finished," the lizardwoman said incredulously. "What on earth gave you that impression? We are not leaving until…" Her voice trailed off suddenly as her yellow gaze focused on the wide-eyed, motley crew waiting outside the door. "Oh…! What are you children doing in a place like this?"

"Children?" Ash repeated, dumbfounded.

"Yes! Was getting in a fight in a public restaurant not enough excitement for you? Why are you here?"

"Valeria, are you talking about McDonald's? I wouldn't exactly call that a restaurant. And they weren't… kids…" The tall redhead's words stopped similar to how the lizardwoman's had when she registered the five. "Oh."

"Oh, indeed!" It was hard to read the lizardwoman's face, but her voice was distressed and her tail was lashing from side to side far more violently than Dove's. "This is no place for untrained individuals, children or not!"

"I hate to break up this happy reunion," Dove broke in, sounding just slightly annoyed. "But I'd like to speed this up. Let's finish up our business."

Shrieking Bird shook her head stubbornly. "Five people!" She insisted in Ash's voice, tugging Gretru forward. 

"Five people?" Dove glanced in confusion from the two women in the doorway to the five outside it. "Are you all together?"

"Unless I'm missing something, then no?" Red looked just as confused as everyone but Shrieking Bird in the ten foot vicinity. 

"Five people," Shrieking Bird said, before switching to the robotic voice and pointing into the door and out. "Seven."

Despite not having heard the second bit of Shrieking Bird's conversation, Anakis was the first to get it. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a silent 'O'. "Are you- are you guys here to forge guild paperwork too?"

The redheaded officer exhaled slowly and smacked her forehead with her palm. "Of course," she hissed. "Valeria, we listened in to their conversation to get to where we are now. It makes sense they had the same idea as us. I mean, we basically took theirs."

"Ah." Valeria took a moment to consider this. "I see. But you- Shrieking Bird- you're not implying that we…"

"Register as a guild together?" Ash guessed, parts clicking together in his mind. "I don't know what part you guys want in this, but that  _ would  _ be a solution to the problem you're having right now."

"Maybe we should stop standing on the porch and actually sit down inside to talk about this," Dove said wryly. Her tail was flicking a little more impatiently now. "It seems you've worked  _ something _ out, even if I don't completely understand what." She stepped aside. "So come in. Let's talk business."


	7. harmonious (adj.)

_ harmonious _

_ /härˈmōnēəs/ _

_ adjective _

  * __tuneful; not discordant.__
  * _forming a pleasing or consistent whole._
  * _free from disagreement or dissent._

Normally, the words  _ Let’s talk business _ put Ash on edge.

The first time he’d heard them was out of the mouth of a fae before he quite literally sold his soul to her. The following times usually involved a careful dance of words as he did his best to  _ not _ do that again. Not that it had been an accident the first time, but it never hurt to be careful.

This time, though, fate had finally begun to work in his favor.

“So you were listening to us,” Ash said,  _ tsk- _ ing. “Upstanding police officers, keepers of peace and law, sitting in a shady shack with the rest of us criminals.”

“I’m not a-” Evolet looked affronted, but for one reason or another, he quickly changed his mind and shut up, scowling at the table.

They were sitting around a table in what would probably be the living room if Dove had been using this as a proper house. Dove herself hadn't even needed to talk much as the rest swapped stories and suggested solutions. The redheaded officer- who had aptly told them to call her Red- smiled sheepishly. "Sometimes you have to work outside the law to uphold it," she said. "Actually, we've been looking into Dragon's Crown for a long time. It's become something of a personal project for us. Have you heard the rumors of their magical enhancing experiments?" At the general nodding of the group, her expression turned grim. "From what we've heard, it's incredibly illegal- not to mention even more immoral. But no one in our precinct will take us seriously."

"We have heard from multiple sources that Dragon's Crown has not been acting as they should," Valeria said stiffly. "The incident at McDonald's was the first public commotion they have caused, and has given us some credibility. However, no one wants to anger such a powerful and influential organization. So we have decided to take matters into our own hands."

"And H is probably involved with the experiments somehow. So two birds one stone?" Ash shrugged. “Sorry,” he added when Shrieking Bird made a wordless noise of alarm at the metaphor.

“Precisely.” Valeria agreed. “As much as I hate resorting to these means- especially as I do not quite understand what I am even doing- the safety of others is our first priority, so I hope we can trust you.”

“That's a tall order," Ash drawled. "No offense, but wouldn't the better question be whether we can trust you?" At his words, everyone at the table glanced at each other nervously. "Not to start shit, I mean. But if it becomes your word against ours, it doesn't matter how much power you guys have on your authorities. It'll still be more than ours."

"That's fair," Red said agreeably. "There's nothing specific we can say that will make any of you believe us. But since we're working toward a similar goal, we'll have to trust each other. What if we swapped each other's guild papers?"

Ash hummed. "Like holding guns to each others' heads. That's not a bad idea."

Anakis frowned. "It wasn't until you made that analogy."

"So it's settled then," said Valeria. "We'll form a false guild to infiltrate the matches. Dove, how much will this be?"

Dove, who Ash realized was listening with surprising keenness, leaned forward and rested her chin on laced fingers. "Actually, I'd like to hear more about this guild you're looking into." Her eye(s?) betrayed nothing. "What do you mean, they're sending magically enhanced representatives?”

“Well…” Red rapped her fingers against the table. Near Ash, Shrieking Bird copied the noise under her breath. “Literal magic enhancement and strength enhancement seem to be the most prevalent and credible rumors. Experiments are being done with both living and dead subjects alive.”

Anakis creased her brow and although her expression didn’t change, Dove’s tail lashed a little harder. “Dead subjects?” said Anakis. “How would that work?”

Red cringed and looked to Valeria, who nodded slightly and explained in her place. “From what we know, they’ve been digging up the dead bodies of powerful magic users and... using them.” 

Ash got the feeling the original descriptions had used far more graphic detail. 

“They didn’t dig up the bodies.” Dove stood suddenly, emotion seeping into her voice in the form of cool anger. “I did.” She scowled at the table. “And they shorted me for it.”

Silence swept the table. Abril was the first to speak up. “Shorted you?” he repeated. “As in, you dug up the bodies and they didn’t pay you fully?”

“As in,” said Dove, “I dug up the bodies and they didn’t pay me at all. I recognize some of the figures you described. I’m sure of it.” She picked up a stack of papers she’d had at her side. “So I’ll make you all a deal. I’ll forge the papers free of charge if you bring me along.” Her eyes glinted coldly. “You don’t need to involve me in your plans and I won’t bother you. I’d like to do some investigation of my own while the matches are going on.”

Of course. The matches would be a perfect distraction for her. “Personally, I don’t have a problem with that,” said Ash. After a minute of murmured assent and nodding, it seemed no one else did, either. 

“If you’re trying to seek revenge, I’d have to advise you not to,” said Red, looking worried. “Dragon’s Crown  _ is _ very powerful- in both a political and literal sense.”

“I don’t,” Dove assured. “That would be a waste of time. I do, however, have plans to recover the money that was taken from me. Worry about your own business. I have a feeling it’ll turn out to be a lot more dangerous than mine.” She nodded at a door nearby. “I’ll be doing the papers. Give me about an hour.”

“Our numbers keep growing,” Ash said as she shut down door, leaning back in his chair on two legs. “At this rate, we’ll outdo Dragon’s Crown itself.”

“But is that a good thing?” Anakis pointed out. “Don’t you feel like this is growing into something bigger than we can handle?”

“The problem’s always been the same size,” Ash shrugged. “We’re just accommodating to it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Don’t jinx it,” Evolet warned. 

“That we all die horrible and painful deaths,” Abril said pleasantly. “I’d like for that not to happen, though. I still have things I need to do before that!”

“I, on the other hand, can’t really say the same,” said Anakis. “If I happen to die a horrible and painful death on this trip, at least I got a kickass adventure out of it.”

Valeria folded her arms. “That is not a healthy mindset to have,” she scolded. “There will be no horrible and painful deaths on this trip. I will not allow it.”

“A quick and painless death, then?” Anakis suggested. “Maybe living experimentation? I’ve always wondered what that felt like.”

“Er…” Gretru piped up meekly. “M-maybe we should stop talking about dying?” She looked considerably more nervous than she had when they’d entered the building. 

“Oh, sorry.” Anakis smiled sheepishly. “It’s fine, Gretru. We’ll get your friend out and maybe get Dragon’s Crown arrested if we’re lucky. They won’t know what’s coming for them.”

“We do have the element of surprise,” Red agreed. “I’m sure they’ll have their guard up, but they’re expecting sabotage. We’ll have to hit where they least expect it. While we’re here, why don’t we start talking about strategy?” Out of nowhere, she pulled out a roll of blue paper and unfurled it on the table. “This is a blueprint for the warehouse. We’ve already determined where the matches will most likely be taking place, as well as where the contestants will be held. But that’s still only a small portion of the warehouse. There’s no guarantee all of it will be empty during the matches, but we should set up rendezvous points in case…” 

Ash let Red’s voice guide him through the logistics she and Valeria had plotted out so far. Finally, the distant and far off idea they’d started with was solidifying into something resembling an actual plan. But there were still far too many factors, unknowable variables, for things to work out perfectly. The best they could do was stay flexible and avoid unnecessary trouble.

And of course, try not to die a horrible and painful death.


	8. resistance (n.)

_ resistance _

_ /rəˈzistəns/ _

_ noun _

  * __the refusal to accept or comply with something; the attempt to prevent something by action or argument.__
  * _the ability not to be affected by something, especially adversely._
  * _the impeding, slowing, or stopping effect exerted by one material thing on another._

_ “If there are gods out there,” Kiara murmured, “they have truly smiled upon us.” _

_ A boy was cradled in her arms, swathed in blankets and sleeping peacefully. She’d never thought she’d see the day he existed in this world. Beside her, Leone was watching the baby with a similar tenderness in his hazel eyes. “What will you name him?” _

_ Kiara looked up at him with a smile. “Me? Why don’t you name him?” _

_ Leone looked taken aback. “Are you sure? You’re really putting me on the spot, Kia…” He thought for a moment. “Let’s see… what about Ash? Like the tree that wards off fae, or the dying remnants of your flames.” _

_ Kiara laughed softly. “How poetic. You’re such a nerd.” She leaned up to kiss his forehead. “But I like that name. Ash. It’s a bit too short a full name, though, for someone like him. He should be able to have a nickname. Maybe… Ashwin?” _

_ “Ashwin. I like that.” Leone rested an arm on the table as he gazed at his son.  _

_ The house was peacefully quiet. A scented candle burned low on the mantle, and the air smelled faintly of vanilla and smoke. The only sound was the gentle hum of the oven. _

_ How rare it was, in a place like Gaia, but in Kiara’s heart, hope burned like a bonfire.  _

_ The Terrianes had a bright future before them.  _

~*~

The warehouse was cool and empty, the only light being the sun streaming dimly through cracked windows.

All buildings or homes had thresholds. Public facilities had thresholds thrust wide open, a pleasant background buzz when you stepped through the doors. Most houses had the opposite effect: the tight discomfort of a threshold that wouldn’t budge without permission to enter. 

Ash was no brownie, so crossing thresholds was never a serious problem for him even when he broke into houses. But the warehouse, despite being supposedly abandoned and lacking half its front doors, radiated malicious intent. 

He didn’t belong here. None of them did.

“Isn’t it a bit odd that there’s no one guarding the entrance?” Evolet pointed out. He’d been jumpy since they’d set foot in the warehouse and kept glancing nervously over his shoulder. Ash couldn’t blame him, but the behaviour seemed odd given his normally sardonic disposition. But fear, as he learned, trounced any facade and drowned out rational thought the closer it drew. Fear was what had controlled his childhood and the childhood of his neighbors and his neighbors’ relatives’ parents. Fear drove harsh words with lovers and stabbings in alleys and children on the pyre.

He could only hope everyone could keep their wits about them throughout the job. Discreetly, he cast a glance at the other members of the party. Most of them didn’t look quite as anxious as Evolet- in fact, Abril seemed completely unfazed- but he could recognize nervous tics occasionally cropping up among them. Red kept reaching into her coat pocket, presumably to check on a weapon. Anakis shifted the pendant around her neck. Dove’s ears were flattened against her head.

Ash himself found himself tugging at the straps of his gloves and reaching up automatically to pull his eyepatch back on. His hand would constantly pass over nothing, reminding him he’d put it in his pocket to quell that very compulsory urge. Whatever anxiety he felt probably had more to do with that than his role in the job itself. It was strange, how he felt more scared of being targeted for that than the far more relevant concern of being caught smuggling a prisoner out.

He suddenly wondered if Evolet felt the same.

“...law enforcement,” Red was saying when he tuned back into the conversation. “If they had guards standing outside, it would be too conspicuous, and not very effective in keeping people out considering the size of the warehouse. They’ll only have people posted in places that need to be guarded.”

They passed tall steel racks that stank of rust. Ash grimaced, though the others were completely unbothered, staring curiously at the abandoned structures with paint chipped off and scars in the ground where parts had been taken out. Abril pressed a finger to his chin, eyes darting around to take in their surroundings. “Why was this place abandoned?” He wondered out loud.

“There was a scandal over heavy metal poisoning,” Valeria explained. “The company using this place wasn’t handling some of their more sensitive storage properly and employees were getting sick. The reason it has not been torn down or repurposed yet is because there is suspected to still be pools of mercury and other toxic materials underneath the floor.”

Ash suppressed a shiver. “And people still use this place?”

“W-wouldn’t it, wouldn’t it make more sense if people made that up to keep others away?” Gretru suggested.

“That is the suspicion,” said Valeria. “Unfortunately, if law enforcement is aware of this, they have been paid off well. Being an officer is being in a position of power. It may be somewhat hypocritical of me to say this, but people in power should rarely be a hundred percent trusted.”

“I like to think most people have good intentions,” Red added. “But she’s right. Even people with good intentions can be swayed for the right amount of money. And power brings out the best and worst in people.”

“I think more often than not, power corrupts people,” said Anakis. “Not that it makes them totally bad or irredeemable, but it’s like you said about the money. Once they realize what they can achieve, they might not be so good anymore.”

“Maybe sometimes, but I think power usually exemplifies what’s already there. It’s just easier to see when someone in power goes bad because it’s easier to hide indecency in the first place. There’s more reason to.”

Ash let himself tune out of the conversation again as the pair began to debate. He had his own opinions on the matter, but didn’t particularly feel the need to chime in with it. “I’m going on an undercover criminal mission with a bunch of nerds,” he instead said out loud to no one in particular. 

“Nerd,” Shrieking Bird parroted back in his voice. Gretru giggled with her mouth covered.

“Don’t be mean-!” Abril frowned disapprovingly at Shrieking Bird. The Aefie had quickly lost interest in the discussion after Valeria’s explanation and was hanging in the back near Evolet, still observing their steadily darkening surroundings.

“Neeeeerds,” Shrieking Bird drew out in a surprisingly accurate imitation of his own drawl. This time both of them giggled, heads leaning toward each other.

Ash rolled his eyes. “At least Gretru looks like she’s having fun.” He glanced at Abril and Evolet. “Don’t have anything to add to the philosophical discussion on the inherent nature of humanity?”

“We’re all doomed,” Evolet said immediately without elaboration.

“I think people can be terrible!” Abril replied brightly. “But I don’t like philosophy much. Or arguing.”

“Well, that’s one way to look at things.” Ash blinked, mildly taken by surprise. He himself held a far more optimistic view of people like Red seemed to as opposed to Anakis’s more cautious, pragmatic approach. “What about the job, then?” Evolet and Abril were the polar opposites of the team, with Abril just as peppy as he’d been taking down drunken fighters or skipping down deserted streets and Evolet looking only more agitated the deeper they went into the warehouse.

“It’s not like I’m doing much.” At the very least, Evolet didn’t sound too upset about that.  _ So why is he so nervous?  _ “But hell will freeze over before we reach the fighting ring. When-” 

“There,” Dove said suddenly from behind them, making Evolet jump. Ash didn’t have time to dwell on it as a wall loomed up ahead of them with a large, garage-like door that once might have led to an office or staging area. In front, four guards were posted, looking bored.

“Well, I’m ready as I’ll ever be!” Abril clapped his hands together, looking away from Evolet. If he’d noticed the behaviour, he didn’t comment on it either. 

“You sure?” Abril undoubtedly had the hardest role to play.

“I’ve done far worse. But thank you!” With that, Abril was pulling to the front of the group.

Ash could only guess at his feelings. But ready or not, they were about to enter the belly of the beast.


	9. supervene (v.)

_ supervene _

_ /ˌso͞opərˈvēn/ _

_ verb _

  * __occur later than a specified or implied event or action, typically in such a way as to change the situation.__
  * _(of a fact or property) be entailed by or consequent on the existence or establishment of another._

_ Something had happened to her son. She felt it the moment her hope burned out. _

_ ~*~ _

Ash wasn’t sure if it was the smell or what was in it that was worse.

The moment the door screeched shut behind them, he slapped his hand over his mouth, gagging. Every breath burned twice as bad, maybe worse, than it did in open air. The most distinguishable scent was cigarette smoke. He didn't bother trying to decipher whatever else was beneath that, too busy trying to draw enough oxygen into his lungs.

"You okay?" Anakis shot him a curious glance and Ash suddenly realized people were looking at him. His skin crawled.

Ash waved her off. "...Allergies. Holy shit, that's a lot of people." They were standing on a catwalk elevated high above and circling almost entirely around the fighting ring. Below was a makeshift stadium with bleachers stuffed to the brim with people of all kinds of shapes and sizes. The ring itself was in the middle, a little smaller than he'd expected and currently empty.

"The only other exit is going to be blocked," said Dove, narrowing her eyes.

"The only other exit leading directly outside," Anakis corrected. "Look." She pointed down. A cavity had been forcibly broken into the wall, with a narrow path leading from it to the ring. If all went well, that was where Abril would be taking H through.

Abril himself had already been escorted to the waiting room, alongside (unbeknownst to the guard) Red, Gretru and Valeria. The three were meant to scope out the area under an illusion and see if they could find H beforehand. If not, they'd make it back to the bleachers before Abril's first round.

Ash could see the self doubt flickering across Dove's face. He wasn't entirely sure what the Tabaxi's own plan was, but she made it clear she'd stay out of their way. Shrieking Bird, on the other hand, would be left with them- specifically Evolet, who had basically become an overglorified babysitter for this mission.

It didn’t take an expert to see how shaky their plan was. It had been built around minimizing risk and damage, but there were just too many unknown variables. Ash had spent the entire afternoon and night memorizing the hosting guild- the Nightwalkers’- faces and names off an online directory, but he still didn’t recognize half the guards at the entrance. 

There was no time to dwell on these things. The group moved down the stairs and into the crowd. Ash felt better once he was hidden among clusters of equally conspicuous people. No one would suspect the small, nameless guild from a neighboring city. 

They squeezed into a spot in the back. Dove had already split off, presumably in search for someone from Dragon’s Crown. There was nothing to do but wait for the matches to begin. 

Speakers crackled to life and a tinny voice boomed throughout the stadium. “Ladies, gentlemen, and beings of beyond! It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for! This is Andy, bringing to you live coverage of the fights for those too vertically challenged to see them for theirself!” A ripple of annoyance shook the crowd. “Haha, sorry about that. What can you do! Anyway, up first we have the Adventurers with their representative Eleanor Amity against the Sun’s Moon with their representative Amaya Solune! On deck we have Kefsiera with their representative Vivian Lovett against the Mage Knights with their representative Marlow Edrana! And in the hole!” He paused dramatically. “The Nightshade Wendigoes with their representative Annis Ebon against the Guardians’ Lumikki Crystalsky! Looks like we’ve got a lot of ladies up!” The wink was practically audible.

Ash listened anxiously and relaxed when Abril’s name didn’t come up. “Did we ever come up with a name for our guild?” He whispered, voice half muffled by the sleeve still pressed to his face.

“I think Dove took care of that,” Anakis replied in a low voice. 

“I hope she made it something cool. Like ‘Eternal Darkness’ or ‘Goat Milk’.”

“You and I have very different definitions of ‘cool’.”

“What about Goat Butter?”

“If I’m in a guild called Goat Butter I’ll skin Dove alive,” Evolet grumbled.

The first few matches flew by. They watched a girl wield luminant claws and a boy call upon rats and an old woman near well skin someone alive. Evolet had covered his eyes and even Ash winced at the ruthless display. Lumikki would live, but she may never be the same again.

During a match between an ice mage and a werewolf, Gretru returned alone. “Where’s Red and Valeria?” Anakis asked.

“T-they’re in a separate part of the warehouse now,” Gretru said nervously. “They, um, found a place where they thought the Nightwalkers might be keeping guild documents and they sent me back before they went in because they thought it might be dangerous…”

Ash cursed under his breath. “I hope they know what they’re doing.” Despite working together, Red and Valeria still had different goals than them, so it made sense for them to look into the documents for information or evidence against Dragon’s Crown. And they wouldn’t be needed again until their eventual getaway. Still, the deviation made him nervous.

“I’m guessing you didn’t find H?” said Anakis.

Gretru shook her head, worry flickering across her face. “The security for the representatives is better than we thought. He might still be there, but…”

_ But it was a long shot in the first place.  _ If they couldn’t find H, that complicated things on Ash and Anakis’s end. They might have to cut their losses and figure something else out after the matches were over.

“...on deck, we have the Thunderbirds’ Jean Ellien-Hex against the Kingskunks’ Lyra Fox! And in the hole!” By now, the audience had begun to echo back  _ in the hole!  _ during Andy’s pause, with Shrieking Bird doing it the most enthusiastically. “Mystic Sky’s Elizabeth Celeste against the Nameless’s Abril Losa!”

Ash let out a startled laugh. “The Nameless. Dove has a sense of humor.”

The next two rounds were quick. Soon, Abril walked out onto the fighting ring alongside a girl with jet black hair and a small, black dragon curled around her shoulders. The two faced off, getting into fighting stances.

“Three! Two! One!  _ Fight!” _

Elizabeth’s magic soon became apparent as she melted halfway into the shadows of the ring’s fence, a silhouette darting behind Abril. Unluckily for her, Abril whipped around and shot out a hand, releasing a harsh ray of light. Elizabeth materialized back into view, shielding her eyes. Her disorientation didn’t last long as inky darkness pooled on either side of both of them, rearing up to attack Abril.

The girl’s specialty was clearly shadow magic. She was probably the worst possible opponent to go up against Abril, who fought in flashes and swirls of light. Elizabeth made a valiant effort, but the outcome was determined from the moment she’d made her first attack. Within minutes, she was on the ground unconscious.

“We have a winner!” Andy crowed. "Elizabeth Celeste of the well-known Mystic Sky guild beaten by a no-name boy from the Nameless! Bad luck on Elizabeth's end? Or could Abril Losa be the dark- light?- horse of the Millennial Matches?"

Ash let out a low whistle. "Not bad." Though Elizabeth had pulled out a hammer toward the end, the two hadn't even made any physical contact throughout the match. 

Andy chattered for another minute about Mystic Sky’s history as the fighters were taken back into the holding area. “Alright!” He said when the arena was empty. “Up next…” He smoothly listed off more names and guilds before calling out, “And in the hole!”

_ “In the hole!”  _ the audience cheered back.

“Magic Kings’ Lucifer Berlacia up against Dragon’s Crown’s… Tegaladwen?” Andy fumbled with the name before laughing. “Someone forgot to fill out their full name!”

“Tegaladwen?” Ash murmured, furrowing his brow. Gretru looked just as lost. 

“We all knew there was a chance this would happen,” Anakis pointed out. “In that case, we’ll just cancel our part of the plan and wait out the matches. If H isn’t around, we’ll figure something else out after.”

The match against Magic Kings and Dragon’s Crown was the last in the round. Ash peered closely when the time came for the two to walk into the arena. One was a girl with what looked like throwing knives in her hands.  _ Impractical. _ Once she’d thrown them, what would she do then? The second was a more androgynous figure, tall and lanky with the messiest mop of black hair he’d ever seen obscuring their eyes. Ash squinted, trying to get a better look at them. There was something wrong- a shifting red mist hovering just above their skin, different from a person’s usual faint, magical aura.  _ A curse? _

They faced off. The tall one gripped a greatsword into both hands. The other slid a foot back, narrowing her eyes.

“Three! Two! One!  _ Fight!  _ Lucifer immediately throws her knives! Tegaladwen blocks them all with two swipes of their sword! Lucifer is weaponless now- did she think this through? But wait! The knives on the ground just hurtled at her opponent’s back! Could it be metal manipulation magic? What a resourceful use of her powers!”

They’d managed to dodge some of the knives, but two scraped her badly on the way back into Lucifer’s hands. One more was lodged completely into her back. If Tegaladwen felt any pain, they didn’t show it. Instead, their skin began to pulse with a strange, red light. Through Ash’s second eye, he could see the mist swirl faster, bunching around their legs and shoulders as they jumped as Lucifer and swung the sword, lips parted in a cry drowned out by the roar of the crowd. As they did, their hair shifted to reveal their eyes- a deep crimson, glowing like embers to his eye.

Ash thought they would slash straight through Lucifer’s body, but Lucifer made a twisting motion with her hand at the last moment and the sword turned, dragged down so that it hit her legs with the flat of the blade. She collapsed before rolling out of the way and jumping up again, but Dragon’s Crown’s representative didn’t hesitate. They’d turned on their foot the moment Lucifer hit the ground and was charging at her again. The sword flashed in their grip and all of a sudden they were holding the blade in both hands and swung the hilt. The heavy pommel connected solidly with Lucifer’s head and she fell, this time for real.

Ash thought that was a rather odd way to use a sword, but Anakis was leaning forward eagerly. “The Germans call that the murder-stroke,” she said. 

Evolet made a face, peering down. “So is she dead?”

“I don’t think so, but she’s gonna wake up with a nasty concussion.”

Andy was commentating excitedly. “And Lucifer is down! Presumably to keep her from using her metal manipulation magic again- say that five times fast- Tegaladwen flipped the sword’s orientation last minute, taking her by surprise and breaking her concentration. That may have been the fastest match of the round! Will this mysterious elf be the one to rise to the top of the tournament?”

“Elf?” Evolet said in surprise. “Aren’t they those blonde, flowery people who spend all their time hugging trees?”

Anakis frowned. “That’s how the stereotype goes. But there’s many different subspecies of elf, and they’re just as diverse as us. Though… they  _ do _ tend to be more peaceful and upright. I’ve never seen eyes or powers like those from one, either.”

“Could the whole magical enhancement thing have to do with it?” Ash broke his eyes away from the ring. “It looked like there was something off about them.”

“Was there? I’m not sure. It’s definitely possible,” Anakis said.

The second round, understandably, passed far faster. Abril defeated a man with one wing and a surprisingly agile fighting style. The two danced around the ring, the man using his single wing to his advantage to modify his balance, before the Aefie had finally swept a cloven leg at his feet and he fell, hitting his head on the ground.

Tegaladwen had advanced in kind, defeating a shifter with brute force. The round ended, and there was a brief lull before the first three matches of the third round were introduced.

“Up next, we have the Nameless’s Abril Losa against Dragon Crown’s Tegaladwen! On deck…” Andy’s voice faded into background noise as the group exchanged sharp looks.

“Well,” said Ash. “At least it wasn’t the old woman, right?”


	10. aberrant (adj.)

_ aberrant _

_ /ˈabərənt,əˈberənt/ _

_ adjective _

  * __departing from an accepted standard.__

The makeshift stadium was, decidedly, not doing wonders for Ash’s health.

The thing was, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact problem. At first, he’d chalked it up to the smokers. But they were surprisingly few and stationed up in the catwalks. He couldn’t see any magical influence, either- though as time passed, the auras around the crowd grew weaker and weaker to his second eye, which wasn’t unheard of considering his magic and health were usually so closely linked.

_ So what’s the problem?  _

Before he could dwell on it much longer, Abril and the elf walked side by side into the arena and faced off. Ash could see Abril’s mouth moving, but there was no way he could hear what he was saying from all the way up here.

Anakis was similarly frustrated. “What if it’s something important?” She grumbled, leaning forward. It sounded more like an excuse than anything else. Ash wouldn’t be surprised if she was just curious as to what he was saying.

_ “-call me that,”  _ a low voice growled from beside them, vaguely female. Everyone’s heads snapped to Shrieking Bird, who had her head cocked toward the arena.  _ “It’s Teg.” _

_ “Teg?”  _ Shrieking Bird’s voice pitched up in Abril’s voice.  _ “Well, that works too, I guess! Nice to meet you, Teg!” _

_ “Save the small talk.”  _ A loud “FIGHT!” echoed through the stadium. Teg lunged at Abril at lightning speed and he barely got out of the way. 

_ “Is it true what they say about the guild doing experiments?”  _ Abril spun a ball of light between his fingers, but just as he released it, Teg swung her sword and he leapt out of the way again, the ball misfiring. 

_ “Dragon’s Crown?”  _ Teg said scornfully, pulling her blade up from the ground.  _ “As if they’d be smart enough to pull it off on their own.” _ She swept her sword low at Abril’s legs. The Aefie jumped unnaturally high before aiming a two-legged kick at Teg. Teg’s sword snapped up to block his hooves, her skin beginning to glow again as she thrust him off to a side. Abril managed to tuck himself into a roll and recovered quickly. So far, neither of them had managed to land a hit on each other.

_ “They’re working with someone, then?”  _ Abril’s head tilted in confusion.  _ “Are you magically enhanced? Do you know someone named H?” _

_ “You ask too many damn questions.”  _ Teg didn’t just move fast- with her skin glowing red, she moved unnaturally. Abril let out a sharp hiss as the point made a wide cut along his chest. Silver beaded at the edge of his skin. Thankfully, since he’d moved back in time it seemed relatively shallow, but he’d still be losing blood.

_ “Am I? I’m sorry!”  _ Abril still managed to chirp. All of a sudden, he was behind Teg.  _ An illusion.  _ Teg spun around as Abril swiped a scimitar at her back. Once again, she blocked it with her sword before twisting the blade and hooking it under the hilt in an attempt to disarm him. Abril dropped the scimitar entirely, letting her, before sending a beam of light in her face. Teg snapped to a side, the beam grazing her face. While she was distracted, Abril scooped his weapon back up and hopped back.

From there, the fight was silent. Their fighting styles were jarring compared to one another, with Abril graceful and light on his feet and Teg ruthless and straightforward. Ash jumped as a hand landed on his arm, breaking his concentration. “Let’s go,” Anakis said urgently.

“What?” Ash said incredulously. “What are we gonna try to do? Smuggle out that living bomb? For what?”

“Information.” Anakis tugged his wrist. Rolling his eyes, Ash stood up and immediately stumbled as blood rushed to his head. He winced, blinking darkness out of the edges of his vision.

"We're already far enough from the original plan," Ash warned. "It's not gonna work."

"You don't know unless you try," Anakis said stubbornly. "If you don't want to go, I'll do it alone. But I'll bet you all Abril's prize money that that elf knows things that will help us. She talked like she wasn't aligning herself with Dragon's Crown. Like there's something else going on."

It felt like a reach, but if she was going to go alone anyway, Ash couldn't argue. "Let's hurry up."

"W-wait, you two are going?" Gretru yelped.

Anakis nodded decisively. "Sound the signal, Shrieking Bird."

In a minute, Ash was struggling to keep up with her as she dashed up the stairs. "Would it kill you to slow down?" He wheezed.

"Maybe you should hurry up," she countered. To his surprise, she sounded slightly out of breath from the flight of stairs too.

Ash narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong. "Anakis-" he began.

"What are you two doing?" The guard who'd been leaning against the railing pushed herself off it to stand in front of the door, scowling. Like the four guards coming in, she had an unmarked bronze badge pinned to her chest.

Ash felt relief crash over him as his brain matched her face to a Nightwalker's. "Susienne!" He drawled, strolling up to her and throwing an arm around her shoulders. “It’s been too long! How have you been?”

“...I’m sorry?” Ash could almost feel her internal struggle. “Do I know you?”

“You don’t remember me?” Ash feigned hurt, putting a hand to his chest. “It’s only been… oh, how many years? Guess it makes me a bit of a hypocrite that I don’t remember.” 

“I don’t quite…”

Ash’s magic was annoyingly sluggish, but hopefully the psychological factor would do most of the work for him. Anakis was watching him with equal parts confusion and fascination. Luckily, she’d had the sense not to speak up during the exchange.

“It’s fine, I understand.” Ash heaved a somewhat theatrical sigh. “Say, would you mind opening this… gate door thing for us? My guildmate and I have-” His words suddenly locked up against a blatant lie, and he fumbled for a brief moment, concentration broken, before he finished, “someplace to get to.”  _ Shit. _

Luckily, the guard didn’t immediately call for help. “No one leaves the stadium without explicit authorization or an escort,” she said stiffly, attempting another scowl. With a flash of hope, Ash realized the doubt was still there.

“Please,” Anakis jumped in. “Our guildmate is sick. He’s our healer.”

Ash pressed a little harder. This was taking longer than it usually did. “Can’t you make an exception for us?”

A painfully long moment of silence. Finally, the guard pulled herself away and hesitantly began to pull up the door. Ash and Anakis exchanged a look of victory and didn’t waste any time getting out of the stadium. As soon as they were away from the guards on the outside, they started speedwalking.

“It’s not going to last,” Ash said as the two strode through the empty warehouse. “She’s going to notice something is up real quick.”

"What was that?" Anakis asked, curiosity clear in her voice. "When you said you might be able to convince the guards to leave us alone, I didn't think you meant that literally."

"What, you thought I would turn them into rabbits?"

"Maybe gerbils."

Ash snapped his fingers. "You know when you meet someone that looks kind of familiar and they act like they know you but you don't remember them? But you don't want to admit it because you're embarrassed and don't want to make things awkward so you kind of just go along with it and hope someone mentions their name at some point, or that you have a sudden epiphany?"

"...No?"

Ash snorted. "Well, not all of us are anti-social shut ins. I was just taking advantage of that feeling."

Anakis crossed her arms. "How do you know I'm an anti-social shut in? Maybe I just have really good memory." 

“Because you seem like a nerd, and statistically nerds are anti-social shut ins,” Ash stated matter-of-factly.

Anakis rolled her eyes. “I think you just have a bad sample."

The warehouse got darker and darker as they walked. Anakis turned on her phone flashlight, but it barely made a dent. "What's the point in shutting off the electricity if they don't even use it in the first place?" Ash muttered. They were following a wall now, a wide, endless expanse of gray concrete.

"It should be near…" Anakis murmured to herself, sweeping the beam along the wall.

Ash hoped Abril was holding out. They were already taking longer than anticipated- not to mention the sudden change in plan. What had started with relatively minimal risk had quickly become shaky. "Got it." Anakis's light glinted against a dull gray box. "You flip the switches, I'll set up my stuff."

Ash complied, gloved hand moving down rows of switches. Anakis was crouched near his feet, powders and foils spread out before her. His heart raced. Any minute now, someone would find them. 

But wasn't that the plan? When the distractions went off, they'd immediately assume people were after the money and concentrate security there. Literally no one would notice an invisible boy sneaking out an unconscious elf.

If things worked out on Abril's end, that was.

_ Focus. Everything is as fine as it could be.  _

Anakis carefully placed a ball of tinfoil in a slingshot and lit the string sticking out with her pinkie before she shot it into the darkness. "Let's go."

As they ran, a series of hollow pops sounded behind them, alongside more distant footsteps. They approached the entrance to the stadium, where distantly they could see the four guards were missing, but instead of heading back in, they veered off in the direction Abril had been taken.

There was no actual room for the fighters. Instead, heavy canvas walls had been stretched out next to the stadium. Two guards Ash didn't recognize stood by one of the walls, whispering frantically to each other. Anakis lit another tin foil ball and tossed it away. Once the popping started, the guards whispered furiously to each other before one dashed off. Anakis frowned, digging in her messenger bag, before withdrawing a liquid-filled glass sphere and tossing it right at the guard.

The guard turned sharply and smacked the glass sphere aside with the back of her hand. It shattered on the ground and pale smoke billowed into the air with a faint hiss. When the smoke cleared, she’d passed out.

More footsteps. Ash whipped around, but there was no one there. “Wait!” A voice hissed. “I’m… I’m here. Don’t go in.”

Abril Losa melted into existence in front of them, cut and bruised and holding an unconscious elf in his arms. It was the first time Ash didn’t see him smiling.

“It wasn’t Dragon’s Crown,” Abril said, eyes glazed with exhaustion and pain, before he passed out.


	11. enervate (v.)

_ enervate _

_ verb _

_ /ˈenərˌvāt/ _

  * __cause (someone) to feel drained of energy or vitality; weaken.__

_ She thought she’d be using her fire to do great things. _

_ She remembered her first Beltane, how the former had taught her to light every bonfire and the Pyre standing tall and proud at the center of Gaia. _

_ She remembered the townspeople coming up to greet their new protector. The pride she’d felt. Gaia needed her, and she’d serve it her heart on a silver platter if it helped. She’d sell her name, make any deal, pledge any promise if it saved Gaia. _

_ So young, so naive. Kiara couldn’t even save her own son.  _

_ no _

_ no _

_ She would save him.  _

_ She had to save him. _

~*~

They met at the rendezvous point behind the warehouse.

Anakis and the officers were conversing frantically and even Dove was watching with wide eyes. Whatever they were saying, Ash couldn’t hear above the roar in his ears and his own harsh breathing. 

_ Nae sankt ei noi fae proekt hem zoi. _ His hands were slick with silvery blood. 

Maybe today was the day he bled himself dry.

The thoughts flashed through his head in a delirium as he struggled to close a large gash on Abril’s chest. Pale lavender rose to his fingers in spluttering bursts and flickered just above his skin erratically. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Exactly what, he wasn’t sure. There were so many things in his life that shouldn't have happened. His birth was a good start.

He flinched harshly when someone called his time. "Huh?" Couldn't they see he was in the middle of something here?

"I said," Anakis repeated, "the wound is closed. Chill out."

Ash glanced down and realized she was right. The blood on his skin was merely what was left from the bleeding before. "Oh," was all he could say. "My bad. My magic was…"

"Actually, we were just talking about that," Anakis said. They were sitting in a rough circle, blueprint laid out in the middle. "Care to join us?"

"Uh…" Ash glanced uncertainly at Abril and Teg, but they both seemed to be stable. "Yeah. Sure." He settled down by them. “‘We were just talking about that’. Way to be ominous, huh?”

“Well…” Anakis rested a finger where the stadium was on the blueprint. “Before he passed out, Abril said ‘it wasn’t Dragon’s Crown.’”

“Yeah, which was also pretty ominous. Not sure what you’re getting at here.”

Anakis ignored him. “We thought Dragon’s Crown was doing magical experiments on its own. But it looks like there’s something bigger at play. Something more… organized.” 

“The Nightwalkers are involved,” Dove spoke up. “I was looking for some members of Dragon’s Crown, but I stumbled upon the representative for the Nightwalkers talking to them.” Her eyes narrowed. “They were complaining about how ‘they’ were taking too long.”

“They?” Ash repeated, a hint of frustration to his voice. “Who’s ‘they’?”

Dove rolled her eyes. “Don’t look at me like I know,” she muttered. “But there was one thing one of them said. ‘It shouldn’t take so long to suck them dry.’”

Ash was silent for a moment. He was beginning to understand what they were getting at. “You’re saying there’s something in the room that’s taking everyone’s magic.” At the others’ grim expressions, he knew he was right. “Jeez, couldn’t you guys have just opened with that?”

“You probably would have wanted the context anyway,” Red pointed out. “It’s a pretty big statement to make.”

“That still wasn’t a whole lot of context,” Ash said.

“Well, now you’re equally as clueless as the rest of us, right?”

_ Good point.  _ It would explain a lot- his slow progress manipulating the guard, the unusual fatigue, the struggle to close up the two’s wounds. “You felt it too, then?” Ash asked Anakis.

Anakis frowned. “Yeah. I felt… weaker by the time I was out.”

“The children and boy is still there,” Valeria said. It was hard to read her expression, but a note of distress had entered her voice. “Will we leave them to their chances?”

“Definitely not,” Red said immediately. “We have to get to them as soon as possible. We don’t know what’s going on and it could be dangerous. I shouldn’t have…” Her voice trailed off and she gave herself a little shake. “We need a plan.” She steepled her fingers together, staring in thinly veiled frustration down at the blueprint. Ash knew they were all thinking the same thing- it would be hard to get in or out, especially with the heightened security. 

“We can create another distraction,” Anakis suggested. “Sneak in through the other door. Or get caught on purpose.”

“I’d rather not put more people in danger without knowing the consequences. The first idea could work if we went about it the right way. It would be best if they couldn’t see us… we probably won’t be able to get to the power board again, but if we could find a way to break the lights- maybe from above?”

As they spoke, Ash spotted movement from the corner of his eye. Abril flipped onto his stomach with a soft groan, pressing the side of his face to the ground for a long moment before pushing himself up. He blinked blearily in their direction. Ash gave him a two fingered wave. “Rise and shine. Congratulations on being alive.”

“Wha…” Abril pulled himself into a cross-legged position, tilting his head in confusion at Ash. “Why? Was I going to die?”

“Nah.” Abril had been in bad shape, but he probably could have lasted a long while. “What’s in your blood? It was very easy to work with. Among the top ten best bloods I’ve ever encountered.”

Everyone was staring at him blankly. Abril looked even more confused. Maybe Ash should have picked a better time to ask about this. “It’s unicorn blood,” he said. “Among other things, maybe. I’m not sure? What do you mean? Why do you ask??”

Ash huffed out an exasperated breath. “Nevermind.” They had more pressing matters. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore. But otherwise good!” He smiled. “What’s going on? Why did you want me to take Teggy? Oh, she’s not awake, is she?” He glanced to his side where the elf was still unconscious. “I guess not...”

“We’ll explain everything,” Ash promised. “You should tell us what happened too.”

“Well, I sedated her with the potion thingie you gave me and took her out when the lights went out.” Abril put a finger to his cheek, thinking. “I was trying to use my illusions to hide us, but she got me pretty bad… they weren’t working very well. Oh- I had to hide and I overheard some guys talking about the magic experiment thingies!” He sat up a little straighter. “They were talking about how it was unfair Dragon’s Crown was taking all the credit when Teg wasn’t even part of their guild.” The group exchanged confused looks. “Yeah, the guy said she was ‘theirs’. Um… one of them saw me.”

“Saw you?” Dove frowned in concern. “How so?”

“I was trying to get out and I thought they’d both left but one of them saw me. I didn’t get a good look at their face and they weren’t really talking much. I’m sorry…” He cringed.

“It should be fine. It was pretty dark, right?” Ash said.

“Yeah. But still! I hope I didn’t mess up your plans or anything.”

“You did a very good job for the short notice.” Valeria assured him. “Things went as well as they could have, I feel. Now we just have to try to get the other three out and cut our losses.”

“Huh? Why?” Abril listened as Valeria briefly explained the situation. “Oh. Is it urgent? They might not be in actual danger, right?”

“I’d rather not take the chance, personally,” Red said firmly. “For all we know, these matches were all just a setup.”

“So they might not even pay us? That’s a bummer,” Abril sighed. “Well- if you guys need, I guess I can still help! My illusions might be able to get us through.”

“I don’t want to ask too much of you,” Red frowned. “You’ve already done a lot.”

Abril shook his head. “I’d like Evolet to be safe if he’s in danger. It would suck if I had to take the morning shift alone!”

“Alright, then.” Red tapped her fingers on her knee thoughtfully. “Thank you for your help, but don’t push yourself.”

Ash closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. This was still fine. They’d get their faux guildmates out and figure out where H was at some other time. 

He smiled to himself bitterly as he thought,  _ What could go wrong? _


	12. abeyance (n.)

_ abeyance _

_ /əˈbāəns/ _

_ noun _

  * __a state of temporary disuse or suspension.__

_ She thought of her first Beltane again as she set the oven to 350 degrees. _

_ “Please,” the woman had begged, blue eyes glistening with tears. “I have children. I’ll do anything to prove my innocence.” _

_ Kiara was silent. She could not let herself by swayed, manipulated. She was using her power to do great things. _

_ She was still doing great things. Her fire would save Gaia. She would be the last this village needed. _

_ The air smelled faintly of smoke and heather. The only sound was the gentle hum of the oven. _

_ ~*~ _

They ran into a problem almost immediately.

“They were there,” Anakis said quietly. They’d slipped past the guards by invisibly following a pair of arguing Nightwalkers in, but it looked like the endeavour had been useless. Evolet, Shrieking Bird, and Gretru were nowhere to be found in the crowd.

After ten minutes of fruitless searching, they reconvened again.

“You couldn’t find them?” Valeria’s tail lashed from side to side and her tone had pitched up in distress. 

“Maybe they got out on their own,” Ash suggested.

“They would have met us here,” Red pointed out.

“There’s more than one meetup point, right?” Abril piped up. “Maybe something happened and they had to wait at another one!”

“It’s as good a beginning as any. Let’s hurry,” Valeria urged.

They hadn’t even made it to the first backup location when Dove’s ears pricked up. “Wait.” She said suddenly, putting an arm out to stop whoever was behind her. A moment passed. Then another. Just when Ash was about to ask what her problem was, her ears twitched and she spoke up again. “I hear Shrieking Bird.”

“Is that her?” Valeria cocked her head to a side. “How can you tell?”

Ash didn’t hear anything, but the two seemed pretty intent. He waved a hand in front of Dove’s face (he didn’t think he could reach Valeria’s if he tried). “Helloooo? Do we need to get you two checked for hallucinations?”

Dove leveled him with a deadpan stare and moved Ash’s hand away from her face. “Stop that. I’m trying to focus.”

Ash dropped his arm, glancing from Dove to Valeria. Anakis let out a soft _‘huh’_, face twisted up in deep thought. “Shrieking Bird can mimic sounds…” She murmured. “Maybe she’s broadcasting a dog whistle or something.”

“Dog whistle?” Abril scratched his head. “Valeria and Dove aren’t dogs…”

“Lizardfolk and Tabaxi might be able to hear frequencies we can’t,” Anakis suggested. “The same as dogs.”

Dove was mumbling under her breath, counting on her paws. “‘Help’,” she said quietly, before repeating louder, “Help. They’re in trouble.” Looking more driven than she had since their first meeting, she turned and started walking briskly.

The atmosphere grew tense as they followed the Tabaxi back into the warehouse. There was a low humdrum building up from the arena, but Dove was taking them in a different direction. Slowly, the buzz of the crowd and distant snappings of guards phased out as they walked deeper and deeper in. Ash almost couldn’t see, relying more on the faint auras of everyone’s bodies than external light. At some point, Abril spun up a glowing orb, which hovered above their heads. Red murmured a quiet thanks, but it was otherwise silent.

The first voice Ash heard was Evolet’s.

“What do you want to know?” The guy wasn’t exactly trying to be quiet. Frustration (and maybe something more) was steeped deep into his voice. “Look, I don’t know why you singled out two kids and a teenage boy, but we don’t have what you’re looking for. Let us go.” Shrieking Bird made an offended squawk at his words, which he ignored.

The second voice, oddly familiar, was quieter. “...your voice down.” Ash had to strain to hear him. “Look, I’m really just trying to help you.”

“By kidnapping us and taking us to the darkest corner of the warehouse where no one can hear us scream. Yeah, sure.”

“Um, mister…” Came Gretru’s meek voice. “M-maybe we should hear him out…?”

“Maybe when he doesn’t block our only escape route.” The scowl could practically be heard.

Abril extinguished his light. There was a ripple as he surrounded them in an illusion. Up ahead, behind a steel rack, the faint glow of a Luci Light barely outlined Evolet and a stranger’s faces. The fuzzy shapes of Shrieking Bird and Gretru could be seen on either side of them.

“You don’t understand,” said the stranger, the familiar voice coming out of his mouth. “I saw your guildmate.” There was a faint crackling sound to Ash’s left. Ash glanced over sharply, but whoever it was was still cloaked in darkness. 

“So did everyone else.” Evolet rolled his eyes. “He was fighting a maniac… elf thing in the arena. You’re not special.”

“I didn’t mean-” A rush of air beside him, a ripple of movement and the illusion broke as soon as Red entered the light. With lightning quick reflexes, she forced the stranger into a chokehold. The Luci Light clattered to the ground. Evolet made an undignified yelp and stumbled back while Gretru gasped, head snapping to scan the darkness. Shrieking Bird let out a wordless cry of glee. 

“I wish you’d given me some warning,” Abril complained as he dropped the illusion completely and remade the floating light orb. “I could have covered you better!”

“It’s fine. I got him.” Sharp, brittle crystal coated the outsides of Red’s arms in a protective layer, some almost touching the stranger’s skin. “Is everyone okay?”

“You almost gave me a heart attack,” Evolet accused, though there was no mistaking his thinly veiled relief. “How did you find us?”

Ash glanced at Shrieking Bird, who was chattering excitedly to a bemused Dove. “It was her,” he said. 

Evolet followed his gaze, evidently connecting the dots. “Thank fuck for freaky voice tricks,” he muttered.

“Are you okay?” Abril worried. “He didn’t hurt you, did he? Who is he? What did he want? Oh, am I asking too many questions? Oops, that was another question…”

“Ask him yourself.  _ I  _ wouldn’t know.” 

They turned their attention to the man, who was eyeing the crystals nervously and not making any attempt to struggle. “Please,” he said once he noticed he had their attention. “I wasn’t trying to hurt them. Let me go and hear me out.”

His voice suddenly clicked in Ash’s head. “Andy,” he blurted out. That was the same voice coming out of the tinny speakers. Not only did the speakers warp his voice slightly, he sounded different when he wasn’t keeping up his dramatic persona.

“That’s me,” Andy agreed. “Please, I- the magic. The Children of the Night are trying to take everyone’s magic.”

Valeria stepped forward. “Children of the Night?” she asked. “Who are they?”

“I don’t know how much you know,” said Andy. “Let me go and I’ll explain. We should get out of here, too. It won’t be long till one of the Children find us.”

Red hesitated before loosening your grip. “Don’t try anything,” she advised. “There’s all of us and only one of you.” She let him go completely. 

Andy slipped out, slowly putting his hands up. His shoulders were tense from the weight of everyone’s eyes on him. “You can keep me in the middle or do whatever, alright? Let’s just get out first.”

“Will these ‘Children’ not notice you missing?” Valeria tilted her head. “You are the commentator, after all.”

“I can cover for myself,” Andy promised.

“We can go back to the McDonalds,” Anakis suggested. “He can’t try anything in public.”

They ended up calling an Uber, mostly on account of their unconscious hitchhiker. The driver, a young Dragonborn, stepped out, took one look at them, and immediately stepped back in and sat staring blankly at the wheel.

“Sorry, bud.” Ash struggled to keep a straight face. “We can fit the elf into the trunk.”

The Dragonborn rolled down the window. “This is why I shouldn’t have started driving XXL,” she said in exasperation. “Get in and don’t destroy the car.”

“I call shotgun,” Evolet said immediately.

Despite the abnormally large vehicle, it was a tight fight. Ash ended up squeezed in between Anakis and Abril. Valeria had to hunch over in the back. Now that the immediate danger was over, everyone was buzzing with excitement.

“Your reflexes are really good!” Abril praised Red. “I saw you move to capture him. I wonder if I can take you in a fight!”

“Heh, maybe.” Red smiled. “It’s just a Chrysalis thing, I think. My species,” she clarified. “It has something to do with the crystal in our bones. We have quicker reflexes and I think mental processing? But it’s not a very dramatic or even too noticeable of a change, so congrats on picking that up.”

Ash straightened, interest piqued. “Crystal?” He leaned over Abril to glance at Red. “Are your bones made of crystal?”

“Ah, no. Just reinforced by it.”

Ash hummed sharply, tapping his finger against his knee. “Bones deposit calcium through the blood to help with nerve impulses, muscle contractions, and blood clotting. Maybe your crystals are carried the same way to improve them more.”

Anakis took the moment to jump into the conversation, leaning on the top of their seats from the back. “What’s the structure of the crystal like?” She said keenly. “Is there an organic component?”

“I don’t know the specifics, but yeah.” Red rubbed the back of her neck, looking a bit taken aback by the sudden attention. “We all have different kinds of crystals, but they share an organic component that lowers its market value. You couldn’t really tell the difference without testing it a lot, though, so Chrysalis crystal makes for popular imitation crystal.”

“Don’t overwhelm Red!” Abril chided. “Oh! We’re almost there!” 

They paid the Uber and poured out of the car. As they settled around a table, now a much larger group than when they’d started, the atmosphere began to sober up again.

“Alright,” said Andy. “Why don’t you tell me what you know?”


	13. nameless (adj.)

_ nameless _

_ /ˈnāmləs/ _

_ adjective _

  * __having no name or no known name.__
  * _(of a child) illegitimate_
  * _(especially of an emotion) not easy to describe; indefinable; __too loathsome or horrific to be described._

The table was silent when they finished their story. Ash sucked on the straw of a newly acquired milkshake, watching Andy for his reaction.

“I don’t know where this H guy is,” he said at length.

Gretru deflated and Ash patted her on the back. “Sorry,” Andy added apologetically. “Maybe it’s just business between Dragon’s Crown or maybe I just don’t know about it. My affiliation is with the Children of the Night.” 

“Well, that’s a shame,” Anakis sighed, before switching from disappointed to intrigued in half a second. “Tell us about these ‘Children of Night’, though.”

Andy paused to gather his thoughts. “Well…” He said. “The first thing to know is that I’m technically not one of them. But I work under them. The Children of the Night are an organization dedicated to… ‘magic research’. They have a lot of influence over the city I come from.” He pressed the tips of his fingers together. “Their leader, Mother Night, is a powerful demon. She drains magic from others- specifically children. When she first came into our city, a fight broke out. People- people died. So we signed a contract with her.” Ash sucked in a breath through his teeth.  _ That doesn’t sound good.  _ “She wanted our children,” he said softly. “Apparently, they’re the best source of magic for her. At a certain age, all our children would have to be given to her and she’d given them back when they were eighteen. Some children didn’t survive.” Andy closed his eyes. “I was one of the children taken. I say child, but I was in my late teens at the time. My twin sister, too.” He opened his eyes. “She- she tried to go back and help the children. She never came back.”

“I am so sorry,” Valeria said, sounding deeply affected. Even Abril looked upset.

Andy took a moment to gather himself. “That was a month ago,” he said.  _ A month. So soon,  _ Ash thought. “But their influence doesn’t stop at our city. You can tell they have a lot of guilds working for them now. They’ve all been promised power, the same the Children of the Night have. Their experiments have grown more large scale.” His eyes flicked to Teg, propped up in a chair. “I don’t know much about her, but I know she’s one of their main subjects.”

“Th-that’s horrible,” Gretru mumbled, glancing at Teg. “That she was experimented on the way she was…”

Andy nodded in agreement. “The Children of the Night themselves aren’t a guild, so they let Dragon’s Crown take her to the matches as a sort of test. She might know more than me.” Teg shifted and Abril leaned away, eyeing her nervously. “How strongly did you sedate her?”

“Pretty strongly, but it’s been a while,” said Anakis. 

“I saw your guildmate- well, not actually a guildmate, I suppose- carrying her out. I don’t know, I… guess I thought you knew about the situation and wanted to help her.” He sighed. “I was hoping you might be willing to help us, too. I would help you in return.”

“Help us? How?”

“Your three teammates.” He glanced at Evolet, Gretru and Shrieking Bird. “I mentioned children were her best source of magic. Back in the stadium, there were devices all throughout the stadium designed to suck out magic from the attendants. They would have affected children the most strongly- to the point where their magic would be almost unrecoverable, at least in the short term. I wanted to try and help you get it back at the same time- I know the way around better than most. I understand if you don’t want to help.”

Evolet frowned, looking mildly offended. “Do I count as a child, then?” 

Andy shrugged. “The cutoff age is sometime during eighteen. If you’re eighteen, it’s fifty fifty.” 

Evolet didn’t seem all too happy about that. “I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to this,” he grumbled. 

“Aw, I’m sorry, Ev!” Abril piped up. “I’m sure we’ll get everything fixed all safe and sound!”

Ash blinked, thrown for a loop by Abril’s wording. “I don’t think… that’s how that phrase is supposed to be used…?”

As he pondered it, Ander looked at him hopefully. “So… will you help?”

“Well, it’s partially my fault Ev got dragged into this,” said Abril. “So I plan to! It’s only fair.”

“Well, now that I know something like that’s going on, I can’t just  _ ignore _ it,” said Anakis. Red nodded in agreement, and a general murmur of assent spread through them. Even if they all had their different reasons, it seemed the consensus was that the Nameless would remain together for just a little longer.

“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” a voice growled.

Ash’s attention snapped to Teg, who was glaring balefully at Ander with crimson eyes half obscured by scruffy black bangs. “You’ll all die,” she continued scornfully, brushing the hair out of her eyes before gripping the edge of her chair as a faint red pulse emitted from her skin. “And you should have never taken me away.”

“Why not?” Anakis raised an eyebrow.

“Because,” Teg snared, the red glowing stronger. Her knuckles were white. “I never asked you to and I don’t want to help you.” She stood abruptly. “I’m leaving. Have fun getting yourself killed, dumbasses.”

“You’re shaking,” Ash noted mildly, beginning to stand up. “Elf, I’m not sure what your problem is, but-”

He happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe it was his fault. Either way, he wouldn’t have predicted the sharp flash of metal and her wordless cry as she lunged at him.

He jerked to a side, but didn’t move quick enough to avoid the blade cutting into his sleeve and into his skin. It  _ burned- _ a cold, burning pain, ten times greater than the light simmer of Zorelia’s assorted rings. Everyone jumped up, but Valeria got to her first, pulling her away and picking her up like she was nothing more than a ragdoll and plucking the knife out of her hand. Teg kicked and struggled, awash in scarlet, but couldn’t budge against Valeria’s firm grip. “You should be ashamed of yourself!” she scolded. “Pulling a knife with no warning like that and assaulting someone in public!”

_ “Let me go!”  _ Teg screamed, a crazed light in her eyes. They were beginning to draw attention. The elf slammed her head against Valeria’s chest, putting up an impressive fight.

“We have to sedate her,” Red said. “Anakis- do you have any more of the sedative?”

Anakis shuffled through her bag and pulled out a kit. “Here,” she said, pulling out a small vial. “This one’s ingested. Force it down her throat.”

Valeria held Teg still while Red administered the vial. Slowly, her struggles weakened and she fell limp again.

“A-are you okay?” Gretru tugged at Ash’s coat and he jumped slightly. 

“Of course.” His hand covered the wound on his other arm. “Just a graze. It’s not even bleeding.” Technically the truth.

“Are you sure?” Abril, who was watching them keenly spoke. “I thought I saw-”

“We should go,” Ash said loudly. “Someone probably called the police. This would be pretty hard to explain.”

Red winced. “You’re probably right,” she said begrudgingly. “We have to figure out where to keep her. Do you think it would be safe to take her to a hospital?”

“Probably not.” Ash hesitated. “I can keep her, if needed. She might have a concussion from all that headbanging.”

“Didn’t she just attack you?” Dove, who had been silently judging from the sidelines, spoke up.

“I don’t think…” Ash glanced at Teg. “I don’t think she did it on purpose. To be honest, I think there’s something wrong with her. Maybe the experiments did something.” He had his eyepatch on now, but if he hadn’t he’d likely see the unusual swirling mist lingering above her skin. “If she’s disarmed and maybe… restrained, I’ll be fine.”

“I still don’t think it’s safe...” Red said pensively. 

“I’m staying in a motel, currently,” said Abril. “I think Ash is too, so maybe I can check out someplace nearby and he can call me if something happens.”

“It is not ideal, but it will have to work,” said Valeria. “We must get going. I’ll help carry Teg.”


	14. counterfeit (adj.) (n.) (v.)

_ counterfeit _

_ /ˈkoun(t)ərˌfit/ _

_ adjective _

  * __made in exact imitation of something valuable or important with the intention to deceive or defraud.__

_ noun _

  * __a fraudulent imitation of something else; a forgery.__

_ verb _

  * __imitate fraudulently; pretend to feel or process; resemble closely__

The best way to lie was to convince yourself of the lie first.

Because once you did that, you weren't lying, right? If it was the truth to yourself, how could your own mind disprove it? Ash had long mastered the art of lying to himself. He warped his own mind subconsciously the same way he warped anyone else's. 

Everything was fine.

"If you say so," Abril chirped. “I’ll be next door if you need anything!”

“Call one of us if she wakes up,” Valeria added seriously.

“Yeah,” said Ash, slightly breathless. “Of course. Thanks.” He closed the door, letting out a long, slow, breath. Gretru’s eyes lingered on Teg, who had been placed on the bed with her hands tied with paracord. Ash spared a glance at her as well before sitting down at the desk and shrugging off his coat, rummaging through its pockets to take out a small first aid kit. He pushed up his sleeve to inspect the wound, wincing slightly. The cut was swollen and blistered, the blood vessels sealed shut. 

“What’s wrong with it?” Gretru had turned her attention back to Ash.

“It’s a knife wound. What  _ isn’t  _ wrong with it?” Ash flexed his fingers carefully. They were stiff to respond to him. He felt a strange, sudden disconnect with his body- like the fingers he was staring at weren’t his own, like he was watching them through six degrees of separation.

A cold feeling was spreading just underneath his skin from the wound. Carefully, he unlatched the first aid kit. His right fingers fumbled clumsily and he scowled, spreading his hand flat on the table as he used his other hand to flip the lid over.

“Was it cursed?”

“I wouldn’t know if it was.” He dressed the wound carefully. His skin only partially registered his touch where he smeared the same paste he had out of the information bureau. The scent of Benadryl masked whatever else had been mixed into it.

"Aren't you scared?" Gretru said quietly.

“...Are you?” Ash countered, wrapping the gauze around in mechanical movements. Muscle memory. He barely remembered tying off the knot.

“O-of course I am…” Gretru looked away. “P-people are hurt, and I still… I still haven’t gotten closer to finding H. But it’s almost like, um… it’s almost like everyone else doesn’t get scared. Which- which probably isn’t true, but…”

Ash leaned back. Gretru hadn’t seen him when Abril had passed out with Teg in his arms. She hadn’t seen him when Zorelia rested her hand on his cheek.

She hadn’t seen him alone and realizing the childhood fear of so many was the only harsh reality he faced.

“I grew up scared,” he said matter-of-factly. “Obviously, you start off life with a certain amount of fear to expend, like money. I got it all over with as a kid being afraid of monster under my bed type of stuff so I could do stupid shit like this by the time I was a teenager.”

Gretru puffed out her cheeks childishly. “That’s not true, mister!” She insisted. Ash managed a small smile. “Besides, you can’t be  _ that _ scared of a monster under your bed to make up for a whole life!”

“What if it was a really,  _ really  _ scary monster?” Ash sniffed. “Where I came from, they told stories of a sort of bogeyman called the Pyre Witch. She burned children alive on the stake if they misbehaved.” Her eyes, piercing blue, eyes he’d see in his dreams for years to come. Everyone was watching. He was cold but he was on fire, his scars burning away with the flames. He could barely hear himself above their roar. “Her child, the ironmage, would be even more fearsome. A killing machine.”  _ A saving grace.  _

“Would?” Gretru echoed, brow furrowed in concern.

Ash rested his head in his arms. “They were never born,” he said. “Because the Pyre Witch is barren. But one day…”  _ Never.  _ “The Pyre Witch would find her match in an earth mage, and everyone would be free.”

“I- I thought you said… are you okay?”

Here was the problem with a strong constitution, with being able to take in poison and abuse and come out clean on the other side. You pushed yourself. You put yourself in places you weren’t made to be put in. 

Ash never belonged in the city. Everything in modern society was designed to kill him. The air burned his lungs and the food wasn’t much better. There was a reason the folk never strayed from the woods, powerful and omnipotent as they were.

But he didn’t belong with them either, so who was he?

“I’m sorry,” he said at last. “I guess I’m not really in the right of mind right now. If you want, you can ask Abril if you can stay with him.”

“N-no, it’s fine… unless you want me to…”

Ash briefly debated this. The point was, he  _ didn’t _ want anyone to see him like this. Vulnerability was a dangerous thing to show. Better to grow an armor of confidence, to lie to yourself until somewhere along the line it became truth, or until you couldn’t distinguish them from each other. Everyone did it. No one wanted to be hurt or taken advantage of.

But the thought of silence struck him, of being alone with his thoughts.

Of fear.

“Nah.” Ash lifted his head to peer at Gretru. “Wouldn’t be able to scare you with our spooky stories anymore. Where’s the fun in that?”

“It’s not  _ that _ scary…” Gretru mumbled, crossing her arms. “...were you like me?”

"Gonna have to be more specific, kid."

"Stop calling me kid," she grumbled. "Aren't you a kid too?"

"I'm ten years older than you."

"Th-that still makes you a teenager..."

"Just barely!" Ash argued. "Besides, when I was your age, all teenagers looked like adults." With a huff, he dropped his head back onto the table.

"When you were my age…" Gretru's voice trailed off for a moment. "W-what I meant is- back before we went to the warehouse. Um, you said if I were stronger, if you'd help someone like me. W-were you like me?"

"Still kind of a vague question," Ash said. Why did she seem so intent on uncovering his intentions? Had her faith in humanity been beaten down so hard by her past?

He thought of Evolet and Abril, their shared pessimism despite their polarized dispositions, and wondered the same of them. Maybe, at some point, they’d thought differently. Maybe they’d finally had their fair share of disappointment and lowered their expectations. 

Maybe Ash was in for the same disappointment.

Gretru was silent for a long time, to the point where Ash began to tap his fingers anxiously against the table, wondering if she’d speak again. When she did, she looked away and simply said, “Weak.”

Ash paused. “...Weak,” he repeated. He pictured Gretru in his mind as he found her- small and scared, covered in cuts and burns. "You could say that."

The feeling of helplessness reflected in her eyes. The blank resignation to her fate.

"If you really want to know," he continued as casually as he could when he felt anything but, "You do remind me of what I was like when I was younger. But that’s not the only reason I helped you. I want to believe…” 

Believe people could be good. Believe in kindness, selflessness. Maybe he was being idealistic, just another lie he convinced himself of, but if so it was an illusion he would cling to as long as he could. He was tired of fearing the worst from people, and kindness was easy to find if you knew where to look.

When Ash didn’t keep going, Gretru sighed quietly. “How did you get… stronger?” she said softly. 

Ash gave her a long side glance. "You shouldn't do what I did," he said. "I was in a very different situation from you."

"B-but…" She took a deep breath. "I don't want this to happen again. H was one of the only people that cared about kids like me, and he disappeared trying to help us. Now people have gotten hurt again. I don't want to rely on other people and have them hurt because of me."

Ash swallowed. Gretru's eyes were brimming with tears of frustration. "Kid, I don't think I can help you with that. Not exactly the greatest role model, here. I... know what it's like to be rejected by both my kind and the people around me, and I know you probably don't feel like you can do much about anything. But…”  _ But what? _ “You just gotta find what works best for yourself, y'know?"  _ Stars, I sound like I’m talking out of a motivational video. _

Gretru dragged a paw down the side of her face. “It just feels like nothing works,” she said.

Helplessness. Resignation.

“I sold my soul,” he said.

Ashwin Terriane was a misnomer. Whoever Ash was,  _ what _ ever Ash was, Ashwin Terriane wasn’t it. Ash had spent his life up to now knowing this, but to forfeit his name would feel even more like a lie. 

Misnomers had a ring of truth to them. Just because something was technically being called the wrong way didn’t mean it was wrong for it to be called that. The graphite in a mechanical pencil may not be lead, but it wasn’t  _ wrong _ to call it so. A starfish wasn’t a fish. The funny bone was a nerve. 

Ashwin Terriane may be a misnomer, but it was his name.

“Gretru,” he said, “do you know what a changeling is?”

~*~

Teg awoke around the same time the iron had worked its way out of Ash’s system.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Ash drawled. “How was your rest?”

Teg glared at him blearily. She glanced down at the rope binding her wrists. “Let me go.”

“What do you plan on doing if I do?”

Teg paused, having to reach up both hands to touch her head. Red spluttered weakly about her skin but for once, it faded as she deflated, dropping her hands.

“Getting a haircut,” she said.


End file.
